Original Articles
Nutritional and energetic consequences of sweetened drink consumption in 6- to 13-year-old children,☆☆

https://doi.org/10.1067/mpd.2003.200Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective To study the effects of excessive sweetened drink consumption on daily energy balance and nutrient intake in a longitudinal study of children. Subjects and methods Daily dietary intakes of 30 children aged 6 to 13 years old were collected over 4 to 8 weeks. Weights and heights of children were measured at the beginning and end of the study in 21 children. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) (PROC MIXED in SAS) and multiple regression. Results Excessive sweetened drink consumption (>12 oz/day) displaced milk from children's diets (122-147 g/day less milk drank, P < .0001) because caregivers served less milk and the children consumed smaller amounts of milk. The consequences were lower daily protein, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin A intakes. Because children failed to reduce consumption of solid foods to compensate for the caloric contribution of sweetened drinks, higher daily energy intakes were observed. Consequently, the greater the sweetened drink consumption the greater the weight gain (1.12 ± 0.7 kg) compared with children who consumed <12 oz per day (0.32-0.48 ± 0.4 kg). Conclusions Excessive sweetened drink consumption is associated with the displacement of milk from children's diets, higher daily energy intake, and greater weight gain. (J Pediatr 2003;142:604-10)

Section snippets

Subjects and methods

Data were obtained from an intervention study in school age children we conducted at the Cornell Summer Day Camp in 1997, with the goal to investigate nutritional effects of a low-fat diet. The Human Subjects Committee at Cornell University approved the study protocol and parents signed the written consent on the first day of the study.

Children 6 to 13 years of age (n = 30) were selected from a group of 42 children to participate in the study. Most children in the study were white and from

General characteristics of children in the study

The means and the SDs of the initial anthropometric measures by age groups and the children's gender are presented in Table I.

. General characteristics of the children at baseline

Age group (y)SexNAgeWtHtBMI
6-7 yF46.6 ± 0.523.0 ± 4.4123.6 ± 8.915.8 ± 1.8
M106.8 ± 0.523.4 ± 4.2121.3 ± 6.215.0 ± 1.9
8-9 yF58.4 ± 0.528.3 ± 6.6131.2 ± 7.216.3 ± 2.5
M58.4 ± 0.532.5 ± 8.4137.3 ± 7.217.1 ± 2.9
≥10 yF210.5 ± 0.736.4 ± 9.7145.6 ± 1916.6 ± 0.1
M412.0 ± 0.841.7 ± 12.6150.9 ± 5.918.1 ± 4.6
Five children had initial

Discussion

The current study demonstrates that the increased consumption of sweetened drinks was clearly associated with the greater total daily energy intake. By using a method of weighed food intake, we were able to confirm an observation made by others using dietary recall or food-frequency methods.1, 2 This increase in daily energy intake occurred because children failed to reduce the consumption of solid foods to adjust for the additional energy of sweetened drinks and maintain daily energy intake

Acknowledgements

We especially thank the children, their parents, our cook Mario, and the personnel of the Cornell University Summer Camp of Ithaca, NY, for their fantastic cooperation and support of this study.

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    Supported by USDA Grant 94-34324-0987.

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    Reprint requests: David A. Levitsky, 112 Savage Hall, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6301.

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