Dietary recommendations for kids are pretty clear about what should be eaten and avoided—choosing fresh fruits and vegetables, for example, over ultra-processed foods containing lots of salt or sugar.
Less clear have been specific guidance over beverages, until now: And new recommendations, released Jan. 30, urge that kids and teens should focus on pure hydration, and stay completely away from drinks containing caffeine, sugar, or sugar substitutes.
“Research shows that what children and teens drink has a big impact on their health—both now and for years to come,” notes the report, offering guidance for kids and teens 5 to 18, from Healthy Eating Research (HER). “With so many different beverages available, making healthy decisions can be confusing and complicated.”
The guidance aims to “provide a gold standard based on the latest research,” said Megan Elsener Lott, deputy director of HER, in a news release.
HER, a national nutrition program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and based in the Duke Global Health Institute, developed its recommendations in collaboration with experts from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the Academy), American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Heart Association (AHA). In 2019 it released beverage guidelines for children under 5, and has now returned with a focus on adolescents.
To avoid dehydration, the guidance suggests, this group should stick, on average, to drinking based on age—40 fluid ounces per day for those 5 to 8, 54 to 61 fluid ounces for those 9 to 14, and 61 to 88 fluid ounces for those 14 to 18.
And the best option for all? Straight-up water. “Unsweetened, unflavored, and fluoridated water is best,” the report notes. But that can also be supplemented with plain milk. “Unsweetened, plain, pasteurized milk,” as opposed to raw milk, “is also recommended for kids ages 5-18,” the report says. “If your child drinks milk, they can drink less water to meet their hydration needs.”
Below, what kids 5 to 18 should avoid altogether when it comes to beverages, as they can have negative health consequences and are not necessary for nutrition needs.
Avoid caffeine—especially energy drinks
A recent poll found that, for one out of four teens, consuming caffeine is part of their daily life. And older research was even more discouraging, finding that 73% of teens have caffeine on a daily basis.
That’s in the form of soda—teens’ top caffeinated product of choice, according to the new survey—followed by tea and coffee, and then energy drinks, some of which contain up to 500 mg of caffeine compared with the 100 mg of a cup of coffee.
And while 400 mg per day is generally safe for healthy adults, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA has no guidance for caffeine intake with teens. Some experts have said 100 mg should be safe, but the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages caffeine intake by kids and adolescents altogether—just like this new report.
“Compared to adults, there is less certainty about the safe level of caffeine intake in children and adolescents,” the guidance notes. “Negative health effects, such as poor sleep patterns and high blood pressure have been reported among adolescents.”
It further warns that nutrition labels are not required to disclose how much caffeine is in a product, so it can be difficult to know how much of it your kid is drinking—and stresses that it’s “particularly important” to avoid energy drinks, packed not only with caffeine but with sugar.
Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages
For American kids and adolescents, sugar-sweetened beverages are the largest source of added sugars—”but contribute no nutritional value to the diet,” warns the guidance. On the contrary, it states, “Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages leads to negative health impacts, such as tooth decay and cavities, overweight and obesity, cardiovascular disease, and Type 2 diabetes.”
Even if you are the parent of an athlete, you can ditch the Gatorade when it comes to keeping them hydrated, states the report.
“Water is the best option for the average child or adolescent engaging in routine physical activity for less than 3 hours, or high intensity activity (like running) lasting up to one hour in normal weather conditions,” it says. “Sports drinks are only appropriate for athletes or people engaging in prolonged, vigorous physical activity, or for when activities are performed in high temperatures and humidity.”
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Also nix drinks containing sugar substitutes
While “diet” or “light” drinks might seem to provide a healthier alternative, they do not, the report highlights, also recommending that kids and teens never consume beverages containing sugar replacements like saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose, neotame, advantame, stevia, monk fruit, or thaumatin.
“The bottom line is that we don’t have good evidence on the long-term impacts of these sweeteners when it comes to kids’ health and safety,” the experts note in the guidance.
“Emerging evidence in adults suggests that non-sugar sweeteners do not help with weight management as originally thought. In addition, this new evidence shows potential harmful effects of long-term use, including increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality in adults. Thus, medical and nutrition experts agree, kids should avoid them.”
Finally, kids and teens should consume these drinks in moderation
While the following beverages don’t need to be banned for kids and teens, they also aren’t necessary for hydration needs, and should therefore be consumed in limited amounts: 100% juice, plant-based milk alternative, flavored cow’s milk.
Juice, if containing no additives, is okay with the following upper limits, the report explains:
- No more than 4-6 fl oz per day for 5-8 year olds
- No more than 6-8 fl oz per day for 9-13 year olds
- No more than 8 fl oz per day for 14-18 year olds
Unless your child is vegan or allergic to dairy, the guidance notes that with the exception of soy milk, plant-based milk alternatives are not recommended as a nutritional substitute for cow’s milk. It also stresses that plant milks often contain other additives, including added sugars and non-sugar sweeteners that offer no nutritional benefit.
Finally, flavored cow’s milk should be limited due to containing a lot of added sugars. “Just one service,” the report explains, “can have more added sugar than a sports drink or a soda.”
More on beverages:
- Raw milk, touted by RFK Jr. and costing up to $21 a gallon, is under fire because of bird flu. What science says about the benefits and risks
- The best time of day to drink coffee for maximum benefits isn’t first thing when you wake up
- Alcohol has a clear link to at least 7 types of cancer. Now the Surgeon General wants updated warning labels on booze
