African-American and white adolescent girls nearly tripled their soda consumption with time, according to a 10-year study reported in the February issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.
Ruth Striegel-Moore, PhD, Wesleyan University, Middle-town, Conn., and colleagues from several institutions studied three-day food diaries kept by 2,371 girls who participated in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth Health Study. Participants provided the food diaries during annual visits between the ages of 9 or 10 years and 19 years.
The authors found that for both groups, milk consumption decreased by more than 25 percent during the course of the study, while soda intake nearly tripled on average, becoming the number one beverage consumed by older participants. The researchers also found an increase in consumption of fruit drinks among black participants.
The authors pointed out that sodas lack nutritional value and are replacing other beverages such as milk, which is an important source of calcium. In addition, adolescent girls who consumed the most soda tended to be heavier than girls who consumed less soda. The authors suggested that public health efforts are needed to aid adolescents in choosing healthier beverages to help avoid calcium deficiencies and weight gain.
