1. Healthy Drinks for Children Information taken from: NEMOURS Children’s Health System FL – Kids Health (website) Let’s Move! Childcare (website) Northland Coalition - (Clay, Platte, & Ray Counties MO) Livestrong.com

2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Name beverages that are healthy for young children to consume Differentiate between 100% fruit juice and other fruit juice-containing drinks Promote water consumption for health benefits Differentiate between energy drinks and sports drinks

3. Some Science Behind What Kids Should Drink What they drink has a major effect on how many calories they consume Childhood obesity is a nationwide problem, so helping kids control their caloric intake with what they drink is as important as what they eat

4. con’t What they drink also influences growth and development (bones, teeth, etc) Milk and water should be the main beverages consumed by young children

5. WATER

6. Water Encouraging kids to drink water teaches them to accept a no or low-flavored, no-sugared drink for quenching thirst Water keeps them hydrated in between meals and doesn’t fill their stomachs with empty calories

7. MILK

8. Milk – Serving recommendations Age GroupHow much Calcium do kids need daily? What they get from Milk Toddlers and Kids (up to age 3) 700 milligrams2 cups = 480 mg (half what they need)* Kids 4 – 8 years1000 milligrams2 ½ cups = 600 mg Older kids age 9 - 181300 milligrams3 cups = 720 mg Note: they get calcium from other dietary sources as well as milk*

9. Milk – con’t You don’t have to overdo it on milk—they only need 2 – 3 cups a day If you need to flavor it to get them to drink it, avoid the pre-flavored varieties (they add extra sugar) – go with a light amount of chocolate or strawberry flavoring.

10. JUICE (100%)

11. Juice If you serve juice, make sure it is 100% and limit to one serving per day according to these limits: ▫Up to 6 months—no juice ▫6 to 12 months—no more than 2 – 4 ounces a day (half cup!) ▫1 to 6 years old –4 to 6 ounces a day (less than ¾ cup) ▫7 to 18 years – 8 to 12 ounces a day (1 to 1 ½ cups) Recommendations from kidshealth.org

12. Juice – con’t Even 100% juice, if consumed in excess, will result in weight gain and tooth decay You want to make sure these other beverages are not crowding out water and milk from the child’s diet

13. JUICE DRINKS

14. Juice Drinks Juice drinks often contain the highest sugar and calorie content of all beverages including soda (see chart coming up) Drinking these sugared drinks is associated with tooth decay Children who start the habit of drinking sugared beverages when they are young are likelier to increase the amount of them they consume as they get older

15. Soda – how bad can one be? One 12 oz non-diet soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar This is equal to 150 calories Many sodas come in 20 oz bottles, which equal more than one serving, multiplying the calories! Kids who drink 1 to 2 sodas every day are 60% more likely to be obese! Soda also often contains caffeine, which kids do not need

16. Soda – con’t The average preschooler drinks less than the recommended number of servings of milk daily The same preschooler consumes twice (two times) the number of servings recommended of soda and sugared fruit drinks You don’t have to ban soda entirely, but keep age recommendations in mind (not for babies, toddlers and preschoolers) and make it a “now and then” thing, avoiding the caffeinated varieties

17. Calorie counting--comparison BEVERAGESIZECALORIESSUGAR (Grams) WATER8 OZ00 LOWFAT MILK8 OZ10011 100% FRUIT JUICE 8 OZ11022 JUICE DRINK (10%) 8 OZ15038 POWDER/ SUGAR ADDED 8 OZ9024 SODA8 OZ **100**27** Reprinted from www.kidshealth.orgwww.kidshealth.org **One can of soda = 12 oz., 150 cal., and almost 40g sugar

18. OTHER BEVERAGES

19. Energy Drinks and Sports Drinks— What’s the Difference? ENERGY DRINKS (Monster, Red Bull, etc) SPORTS DRINKS (Gatorade, Power Ade, etc) Contain caffeine (as much as 103 to 234 mg caffeine per serving) No caffeine Contain other supplements that stimulate; results in ‘crashing’ High calorie, Low nutrients May cause dehydration, drowsinessUsed to re-hydrate after work out May cause caffeine intoxicationUsed to replenish “carbs”, sodium, other electrolytes 31% of youth age 12 – 17 consume regularly Unless you are working out strenuously, you don’t need the added “carbs” for fuel or the sodium replaced from sweating!

20. Energy Drinks & Sport Drinks – con’t Studies have shown that even athletes who ran marathons and rehydrated with water showed about the same level of sodium lost as those who used sports drinks to replace the sodium Taking in more potassium than you need can cause heart arrhythmias These drinks are not appropriate for preschoolers unless under the direction of a physician

21. Kids and Caffeine Most parents would not serve their preschoolers a cup of coffee… The US has not adopted a recommendation for caffeine consumption in kids. Canada recommends not more than 45 milligrams (one candy bar) Watch food labels for caffeine in other foods (ice cream, chocolate, tea) Caffeine’s effects on kids include: ▫jitteriness and nervousness ▫upset stomach ▫headaches ▫difficulty concentrating ▫difficulty sleeping

22. Summary Water and Milk are best beverages for preschool aged children 100% Juice is ok in limited amounts Avoid other sugared beverages

23. References and resources: http://www.healthykidshealthyfuture.org/home /nutrition/beverages.htmlhttp://www.healthykidshealthyfuture.org/home /nutrition/beverages.html http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/ healthy_eating/preschool_drinks.html#http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/ healthy_eating/preschool_drinks.html# http://www.livestrong.com “Energy Drinks: the Facts Behind the Buzz” fact sheet, Northland Coalition, www.northlandcoalition.com www.northlandcoalition.com

24. Wrap Up Questions Comments Evaluation