Sugary Drinks Raise Preschoolers' Risk of Obesity: Study

Kids who drink sugar-sweetened sodas and juices daily are at a higher risk of developing obesity, a new study has found.

Previous research has tied rise in obesity with increased consumption of sugar-rich food and beverages. However, this is the first time that researchers have found a direct link between kids' risk of obesity and sugary drinks.

"Even though sugar-sweetened beverages are relatively a small percentage of the calories that children take in, that additional amount of calories did contribute to more weight gain over time," said Dr. Mark DeBoer, from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, lead author of the study told Reuters Health.

Recently, a large study from Harvard had shown that every year about 180,000 people die from obesity caused by drinking large amounts of sugary drinks. Similar studies on teens and young adults have also proven the effect of sweetened beverages on their heath.

A regular 20-ounce soda contains 15 to 18 teaspoons of sugar, which is about 240 calories. A 700 ounce soda can have as many as 700 calories. However, the calories are empty, meaning people don't feel full.

The present study was conducted on 9,600 pre-school kids that consumed sodas and juices sweetened with sugar.  All the kids were born after 2001 and researchers collected details about the food intake and TV watching habits from questionnaires filled by the kids' parents.

About 9 to 13 percent of the kids drank at least one sugary drink daily, they found.

The risk of having a higher body mass index was greater for four and five-year-olds that drank at least one sugary drink per day. About 15 percent five-year-olds in the study were obese.

The results didn't show any increase of obesity in two-year-old children. However, they had higher risk of gaining weight over the next two years when compared to other children who didn't drink sugary beverages.

"It was disturbing to me as a pediatric nutritionist that kids are getting these beverages at such a young age," Keith Ayoob, Ed.D, RD, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City told MedPage Today. "That's not acceptable, and we have to acknowledge that parents are not making some very wise choices about the beverages they're giving there kids. We need to educate and motivate parents to make better choices."

American Beverage Association said in a statement to Reuters Health that it is typical for young kids to gain weight and it is misleading to attribute sugary drinks with weight gain in this group.

The present study is published in the journal Pediatrics.

About 17 percent of all children in the U.S. or 12.5 million children and teens in the country are affected by obesity, according to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Being obese at an early age ups the risk of several health complications including heart disease.