Soda Consumption - Youth in Colorado

Colorado

Reducing soda and other sugary drink consumption is a key strategy for addressing obesity and related health concerns. Sugar-sweetened beverages have little to no nutritional value and are associated with many adverse health outcomes. A 12-ounce serving of carbonated soda contains about ten teaspoons of added sugar. The newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030 state that “while no amount of added sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners is recommended or considered part of a healthy or nutritious diet, one meal should contain no more than 10 grams of added sugars.” According to the guidelines, children younger than age 11 should completely avoid foods and beverages with added sugars, while adolescents should limit sugary and energy drinks. ?

Regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to increased risk of multiple diseases, including obesity, tooth decay, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and , cancer.

Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption is higher among:

• Teenage boys compared with teenage girls. 
• American Indian/Alaska Native, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, white, Black, Hispanic and multiracial children compared with Asian children.
• Children with caregivers who graduated high school or have less than a high school education compared with children with a caregiver who graduated from college. 
• Children with household incomes less than 130% of the federal poverty level compared with children who have household incomes equal to or more than 350% of the federal poverty level. 
• Children living in households with low food sufficiency compared with those living in food sufficient households. 
• Children living in nonmetropolitan areas compared with those in metropolitan areas.

Reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among youth requires a multipronged approach involving families, schools and communities. Examples of strategies include:

• Implementing the Smart Snacks in School program, which sets a national nutrition requirement for all snacks sold in schools and includes limits on sugar.
• Introducing legislative limits on portion sizes for sugar-sweetened beverages. 
• Regulating marketing and advertisements for soda and sugar-sweetened beverages in school zones. According to one study, students in school districts with restrictions on soda products and advertisements had decreased odds of consuming soda regularly.
• Increasing access to drinking water in schools to decrease soda consumption.
• Limiting marketing that targets children via social media, computers, television and video games. 
• Implementing a sugar-sweetened beverage tax, which was found to reduce purchases.
• Adding warning labels to sugar-sweetened beverages. 

Replacing soda with artificially sweetened beverages is discouraged; current recommendations for youth emphasize water and plain milk as preferred beverages. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers several tips for breaking sugary drink habits and being smart about sugar. 

Healthy People 2030 has a goal to reduce the consumption of added sugars by people age 2 and older.

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