Together, water and milk make up about 65 percent of total U.S. youth beverage consumption
TUESDAY, Oct. 2, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Despite dietary recommendations, soft drinks make up about one-fifth of total beverage consumption by U.S. youth, according to a September data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Kirsten A. Herrick, Ph.D., from the NCHS in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to understand and describe the contribution of different beverage types to total beverage consumption among U.S. youth from 2013 to 2016.
The researchers found that water accounted for 43.7 percent of total beverage consumption among U.S. youth, followed by milk (21.5 percent), soft drinks (19.9 percent), 100-percent juice (7.3 percent), and other beverages (7.6 percent). The contribution of water and soft drinks to total consumption increased with youth age, while the contribution of milk and 100-percent juice decreased with age. The contribution of soft drinks to total beverage consumption was higher among non-Hispanic black youth (30.4 percent) versus Hispanic (21.5 percent), non-Hispanic white (17.5 percent), and non-Hispanic Asian (8.8 percent) youth.
“Beverage choices can impact diet quality and total calorie intake,” the authors write.
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