NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More than half of the average American child's daily liquid intake now comes in the form of sugary sodas, juices and high-calorie drinks, researchers report.

Kids who drink more sweetened beverages also have a higher overall calorie intake, are less likely to eat fruit, and are at higher risk for obesity, note Dr. Karen Weber Cullen of the Children's Nutritional Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and colleagues. The researchers believe their study is the first to look at the relationship between consumption of sweetened drinks and food intake.

Cullen conducted the research while at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, also in Houston.

She and her colleagues analyzed food records from 505 students in grades four through six. Students completed the records over a 3- to 7-day period.

Overall, sweetened beverages made up 51% of the children's daily liquid intake. Kids with the highest consumption of sweetened drinks took in 330 calories more each day than those with the lowest intake. And students with the highest sweetened drink consumption consumed 62% less fruit than those with the lowest.

"Perhaps sweetened beverage consumption is a marker for poor dietary habits or reflects meal sources with few fruit selections and many high-fat food selections," the Texas researchers speculate in their report, published in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health, journal of the American Public Health Association.

They recommend that caretakers encourage children to drink healthier beverages such as low-fat milk and water.

SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health 2002;92.

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