Current Knowledge Base of Beverage Health Impacts, Trends, and Intake Recommendations for Children and Adolescents: Implications for Public Health.

The mean number of calories that children and adolescents are consuming from beverages on a given day has declined in recent years. However, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are the primary source of added sugars in this population. Therefore, SSB consumption remains a concern, and reducing the intake of SSB is still considered a top priority for helping to improve dietary quality. This review uniquely compiles recommendations into one convenient table for the entire age range of 0-19 years and includes recommendations that can be more adequately individualized. Beverage categories where beverage recommendations from authoritative sources are lacking have also been identified. Potential methods that can be implemented to improve beverage patterns and current public policy recommendations have been discussed to provide actionable steps that public health professionals can utilize in practice. The comprehensive table of beverage recommendations could be useful for professionals promoting the health of children and adolescents in research, clinical, and public health settings.