Reducing children’s sugary drink consumption can improve heart health in adulthood

Researchers in the US this week have found that consuming fewer sugary drinks in childhood has the potential to lower the risk of heart disease in later life. The findings show that a lower intake of sugar-sweetened beverages by children is linked to increases in the body of good cholesterol (high density lipoprotein cholesterol).

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease include low levels of good cholesterol, insulin resistance, high triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood) and obesity – and the risk is increased if these factors are present in childhood.

In the study of over 600 children and adolescents, higher triglyceride levels were linked with higher sugary drink consumption. Over the course of the study those children who reduced their sugary drink consumption by one or more servings a week were found to have the greatest increase in good cholesterol compared to children with an intake that stayed the same or increased.

To read more details about the research findings, please follow the link to the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University (Boston).