kid oakland tech slurpee

A student at Oakland Technical High School enjoys a Slurpee at lunch on Thursday. Credit: EdSource, Jane Meredith Adams

Every bit the clock ticks toward a 2022 federal ban on the sale of sports drinks at high schools, California teenagers are showing an increasing fondness for the sugary beverages, with an alarming 23 per centum increase in the consumption of sports and energy drinks since 2005, according to a new study.

At the same time, consumption of sugary drinks past young children is declining sharply, according to the written report past researchers at the California Center for Public Health Advancement and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Inquiry. The study tracked youth consumption of the beverages from 2005 to 2012.

Both trends – the surge in teens guzzling sugary drinks and the drop in consumption for younger children – are tied to regulations governing the sale of the beverages in California schools, said Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Wellness Advancement.

"Taking sodas out of schools contributed to a precipitous drop in consumption amidst younger kids," he said, "while older kids have actually switched to sports drinks and free energy drinks, and those products are bachelor in schools."

In California, soda sales have been banned in elementary and middle schools since 2006 and in high schools since 2009, only a loophole in the state education lawmaking allows the sale of electrolyte replacement beverages, otherwise known as sports drinks, in high school cafeterias, vending machines, snack confined and other on-campus venues. That loophole will close on July ane, 2014, when new regulations from the U.S. Section of Agriculture take event to ban the sale on schoolhouse campuses of sugary sports and energy drinks that have more than than xl calories in 8 ounces or 60 calories in 12 ounces. The ban will employ to schools enrolled in the National School Lunch Program.

"That means your typical 20-ounce Gatorade won't exist in schools," said Margo Wootan, managing director of nutrition policy at the Center for Scientific discipline in the Public Involvement, a nonprofit organization.

Some 65 percent of adolescents drinkable at least one sugary sports drink or soda a day, an 8 percent jump since an before survey tracking consumption habits from 2005 to 2007, researchers said.

Given the close clan between daily sugary beverage consumption and obesity, the rise is cause for alarm for schools that are working to address the effects of obesity on student attendance, cocky-esteem and health.

"California has made real progress in reducing the consumption of sugary beverages amid young children," said Susan Babey, the report'due south atomic number 82 author. "But teens are in trouble."

She said sodas and sports drinks should be regarded as occasional "treats," not function of a daily meal plan.

The study's most encouraging finding was that young children are consuming markedly fewer sugary beverages. About 19 percentage of two- to v-twelvemonth-olds beverage a sugary drink every twenty-four hour period, the written report said, a 30 percent decline since the before survey. Among vi- to 11-year-olds, 32 per centum are daily consumers, downwards 26 percentage since 2005-2007.

The study was based on data collected in the California Health Interview Survey, the nation's largest country health survey. Researchers completed interviews with more than forty,000 households, reaching every county in California, according to the study. Respondents ages 12 to 17 self-reported how oftentimes they drank soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, while the parents or guardians responded on behalf of children ages 2 to eleven.

Sugary beverage consumption for kids and teens

Percent of children and adolescents drinking at least one sugary beverage a day. Source: California Health Interview Surveys. Click to enlarge.

Notwithstanding, banning the beverages from schools won't terminate teenagers from finding the drinks. Some 75 pct of high school campuses in California are "closed" and don't allow students to go out the grounds without supervision during the school day. "It's the 25 pct we need to worry most it," said Wootan at the Center for Science in the Public Involvement.

At Oakland Technical Loftier School – which has an open campus policy allowing students to leave during tiffin – many students sitting on the front lawn at lunchtime Thursday drank from water bottles, while other students returned from local stores with pizza and sugared beverages, including Arizona iced tea, Shasta Cola and a 7-eleven Slurpee.

Many were well aware of the amount of carbohydrate they were consuming, simply didn't feel it was a serious problem. One student said bottled water was more expensive than his canned iced tea.

"I buy it because it tastes practiced," said Will, a freshman carrying a can of Shasta Cola.

His friend, Ethan, had a 23.5-ounce tin of Arizona Light-green Tea containing 51 grams of sugar. "This has a lot of sugar, simply it'due south better than soda," Ethan said. "Information technology's Arizona and it's greenish tea."

Public perception may concord that iced teas and fruit drinks are a better choice than sodas, yet high concentrations of sugar in the beverages make them something to consume in moderation, experts said.

"If nosotros could control access to all the nutrient choices students take from the moment they footstep on campus until 30 minutes after school, when nigh of the kids are getting on the bus for home, we'd be making a major impact on their diet," said Jessica Donze Blackness, director of the Kids' Safety and Healthful Foods Project, a health advocacy grouping at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The counties with the largest declines in pct of youth drinking soda or other sugary beverages every day included Ventura County, with a 37 percent decrease since 2005; Yuba County, with a 32 per centum decrease; and Napa County, with a 31 percent decrease.

Counties with the largest increase in daily sugary drink consumption amid youth of all ages were Lake County, with a 36 percent increase; Monterey County, with a 29 percent increment; and Solano Canton, with a 24 percentage increase.

Jane Meredith Adams covers student health. Contact her or follow her @JaneAdams.

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