Here’s what kids should be drinking, health groups say

Kids and teens should stick to drinking water and plain, pasteurized milk for “optimal nutrition and hydration,” according to new recommendations from a group of national health and nutrition organizations.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and the American Heart Association also recommend that kids 5-12 and teens limit consumption of 100% fruit/vegetable juices, plant-based milk alternatives and flavored milks. Drinks to avoid altogether: sugar-sweetened beverages, those with non-sugar sweeteners, and drinks with caffeine or other stimulants.

“The data tells us that a lot of children get a lot of their nutrition and added sugars from the fluids they drink,” said Mark R. Corkins, a physician, the chair of the AAP Committee on Nutrition and a member of the panel that developed the recommendations. “However, it is often not in the forefront of parents’ minds. The literature indicates that a big chunk of added sugars found in kids’ diets are from soda and sports drinks, and this is a factor in the resulting obesity numbers.”

Kids and teens who don’t drink milk are missing out on essential nutrients, the experts say.

“There was a time when the norm was that children drink milk,” Corkins said. “Now the parents and children seem to think they don’t need milk anymore once they reach school age.

“For hydration, the best fluid of course is plain water, which is also a nutrient in and of itself.”