A 25-year study of more than 25,000 U.S. participants found that regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice starting in childhood is associated with increased risk of high blood pressure in adulthood. Researchers linked two or more daily servings of such drinks to a 52 percent higher risk compared with fewer than three servings per week. Swapping one daily serving for whole fruit was linked to lower risk.
Participants in the Growing Up Today Study reported their intake of sodas, sports drinks, fruit punches and fruit juices through questionnaires from ages 9 to 16 onward. Those who drank 1.5 or more servings of fruit juice daily faced a 35 percent higher risk than those consuming less than one serving per week. Each daily serving of soda raised risk by 23 percent, while each serving of sports drinks raised it by 36 percent.
Senior author Vasanti Malik of the University of Toronto said dietary habits formed early can have lasting consequences and called for limiting sugar-sweetened beverages. Replacing one daily serving of a sugary drink with whole fruit was associated with a 22 percent lower risk of high blood pressure, according to statistical models in the study published in Circulation.
Amit Khera of the American Heart Association noted the findings underscore prevention opportunities in childhood. The analysis adjusted for overall diet, physical activity and other factors but relied on self-reported diagnoses.
