Decreasing Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sugar-sweetened beverages are the largest source of added sugar (and an important contributor of calories) in the US diet. Many sugar-sweetened beverages have few or no nutrients besides sugar; for this reason they can be seen as what are popularly called “empty calories.” A number of studies show a positive association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and Body Mass Index (BMI), meaning that the more sugar-sweetened beverages one drinks, the more likely it is that BMI will be relatively high. Research also suggests that reducing sugar-sweetened beverage intake may be useful in reducing calorie consumption and BMI. Drinking fewer sugar-sweetened beverages has the added benefit of promoting oral health.
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (including soft drinks such as soda pop, fruit drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, and flavored coffee and tea drinks) has risen dramatically over the past 30 years. In Montana, according to the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, roughly one in four high school students drank at least one can or bottle of pop on a daily basis. Reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is an important goal in promoting health and preventing and reducing obesity.
For more information on the research linking sugar-sweetened beverage consumption to high BMI and for information on policy and environmental change strategies to decrease consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, see The CDC Guide to Strategies to Decrease the Consumption of Sugar-sweetened Beverages. For practical tips on reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption at the individual level, see Rethink Your Drink at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/rethink_your_drink.pdf