Get the Facts: Sugary Drink Consumption

The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose.

Sugary drinks include regular soda, fruit drinks with less than 100% juice, sweetened water, sports and energy drinks, and coffees and teas with added sugars.^1,2 

• Diet drinks, alcohol, coffee, and teas without added sugars and flavored milks that contain 50% dairy or more are usually not considered sugary drinks.³ 
• On average, US adults and children consume nearly 150 calories a day from sugary drinks, or about 6-12% of their daily caloric needs.^2,4 

Sugary drinks account for nearly half of the total added sugars in a typical American diet.¹ About half of adults and over 60% of kids consume a sugary drink on any given day.^2-5 

• Despite some decline in consumption in recent years, both adults and kids in the US continue to consume more sugary drinks and added sugars than recommended.^1,6,7 Sugary drinks are often cheaper than bottled water, making them an attractive option when tap water is not safe to drink.^8,9 
• Beverage companies focus advertising^10,11 and retail marketing¹² efforts on African Americans and Hispanic Americans, as well as on children.¹³ 
• Research shows that African Americans and Hispanic Americans drink more sugary drinks compared to non-Hispanic White Americans.^4,14,15 Among households with young children, those with lower incomes purchased more sweetened fruit drinks compared to households with higher incomes.¹⁶ 

There is strong evidence suggesting that drinking too many sugary drinks substantially increases the risk of gaining excess weight and obesity,^17,18 and developing chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, tooth decay, and cavities.^19-22 

Experts recommend drinking water instead of sugary drinks.²³ There are many ways to make drinking water more available: 

• At home:

✓Be a model to kids by limiting or eliminating your own consumption of sugary drinks.
✓Offer drinking water or other non-sugary options.

• At school:

✓Teach students about the amount of sugar in common beverages and the importance of reducing intake for improved health outcomes.^24,25
✓Implement federal food and beverage standards that prohibit sales of unhealthy options like sugary drinks in schools.^26,27
✓Increase access to and promotion of free, safe drinking water in schools.²⁸

• In your city, county, or state:

✓Limit sales of sugary drinks on city property.²⁹
✓Create healthier out-of-school time environments by training staff to adopt a healthy beverage policy in their programs.^30,31
✓Implement a sugary drink excise tax to discourage consumption, as many US jurisdictions have successfully done.^32,33 This is projected to be a cost-saving strategy that can improve population health and health equity.

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Suggested Citation

Get the Facts: Sugary Drink Consumption. Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity Team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA; January 2023. 

Funding

This work is supported by The JPB Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U48DP006376). The findings and conclusions are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or other funders. The information provided here is intended to be used for educational purposes. Links to other resources and websites are intended to provide additional information aligned with this educational purpose.

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Last updated:  January 27, 2023