Going to the grocery store often includes passing by a dizzying selection of beverages, from energy drinks and almond milk to coffee, tea and juice. However, when it comes to children, keeping choices simple is a good bet for health, according to Healthy Eating Research.
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This is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that is “committed to building a Culture of Health through identifying effective strategies to improve children’s nutrition and prevent childhood obesity,” per its website. According to Healthy Eating Research, what children drink has a significant impact on their health and can even affect it in the future.
So, it reached out to experts from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Heart Association to offer beverage recommendations for young people ages 5 to 18. In creating the recommendations, they considered concerns about sugar, caffeine, and other ingredients.
Here are the recommendations:
Recommended water intake
Ages 5-8: 20 fluid ounces daily
Ages 9-13: 24 fluid ounces daily
Ages 14-18: 24 fluid ounces daily
Recommended pasteurized cow’s milk intake
Ages 5-8: 20 fluid ounces daily
Ages 9-13: 24 fluid ounces daily
Ages 14-18: 24 fluid ounces daily
However, Healthy Eating Research said that the milk recommendations are intended to help children meet ideal dairy intake and can be replaced by eating other dairy products such as cheese or yogurt. While it said that plant-based milk consumption should be limited “because they are not nutritionally equivalent and often contain sugars, non-sugar sweeteners and other additives,” it also said it could be used as a replacement for people with milk sensitivities or allergies.
Around 30 to 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant, including 80% of African Americans and Native Americans as well more than 90% of Asian Americans, according to Boston Children’s Hospital. Those with this condition can experience symptoms such as nausea, bloating, cramps, gas and diarrhea when they have lactose – a sugar naturally found in milk and dairy products – because they do not have the enzymes in their intestines to break it down. Additionally, a 2022 study found that an estimated 4.7% of the U.S. population reported current cow’s milk allergies, an autoimmune response to cow’s milk.
While some have touted non-pasteurized or “raw” milk as a healthy beverage, it comes with risks such as infections.
Flavored milk is a beverage that Healthy Eating Research said children should consume in limited amounts, due to its high sugar content.
Juice is another beverage that the group said should be consumed in limited amounts for the same reason.
Recommended juice intake
5-8: 4-6 fluid ounces
9-13: 6-8 fluid ounces
14-18: 8 fluid ounces
Beverages to avoid include those with caffeine and other stimulants, those sweetened with sugar and those with non-sugar sweetener.
Last spring, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health results found that nearly one-quarter of parents say their teen consumes caffeine most or all days of the week. Parents reported that the most common sources of caffeine for their teens included soda (73%), tea (32%), coffee (31%), and energy drinks (22%).
Amy Goodson, a Dallas-based registered dietitian, joined Audacy in 2023 to discuss the impact of caffeine as Congress raised concerns about popular energy drinks.
“These energy drinks are multiplying the amount of caffeine that you’re taking in. And I’m not sure that most consumers actually realize that,” Goodson said. “I’m not sure that they realize that they’re drinking two to three times the amount of caffeine that they’re consuming... [in] a cup of coffee.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a study has shown that 57% of children ages 1 to 5 consumed at least one sugar-sweetened beverage during the week before they were surveyed. The CDC also said “increased consumption of [sugar-sweetened beverages] is associated with adverse health outcomes in children and adults, including increased risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, dental caries, cardiovascular disease, and asthma.”
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