It is estimated that twenty percent of US children and adults do not drink water at all in a typical day. These persons depend on sodas and sweetened beverages to fulfill their water needs making them consume twice as much calories of sugar from these sources as those who drink water. These results are worthy of note because of the negative health effects of sodas and sweetened beverages. They have been linked to weight gain, dental caries, and diabetes. Rosinger, a specialist on health, said that the healthiest drink that people can consume is water and it is needed for physical and mental health whereas sodas and sweetened beverages add only empty calories to the diet of children and other adults. Therefore, people should actively substitute water for these sodas and beverages. Rosinger’s team did a study on the comparison between water, and sodas and sweetened beverages. They employed thousands of young people whose age on average was eleven years. From the study, they found that these young people consumed in a day over 132 calories a day of soda and sweetened beverages. They also found that the results differed in racial groups. This study showed that many kids are drinking sodas and sweetened beverages instead of water.

Key Takeaways:

• About one in five children and young adults in the US alone do not drink any water at all in a single day but rather would take sodas.
• An average of more than 93 calories of sugar that was derived from sugars and sweetened beverages were consumed by people who did not drink water each day.
• The consumption of sugar sweetened beverages can be linked to many health problems for children and these problems include dental caries and weight gain.

“Sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages add empty calories to children’s diets, and substituting water for these drinks can help minimize the risk that young people will become overweight or obese, Rosinger’s team notes in JAMA Pediatrics.”

Read more: https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-kids-beverages/drinking-water-might-help-kids-limit-soda-idUKKCN1RZ2DZ