Beverage consumption of children and teens

by Didier Garriguet

Abstract

According to results from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey – Nutrition, children and teens get about one-fifth of their daily calories from beverages. As they get older, boys and girls drink less milk and fruit juice, and more soft drinks and fruit drinks. By ages 14 to 18, boys' average daily consumption of soft drinks matches their consumption of milk, and exceeds their consumption of fruit juice and fruit drinks. Beverage consumption by children and teens varies little by province, except in Newfoundland and Labrador where it tends to be comparatively high, and in British Columbia where it tends to be low.

Keywords

carbonated beverages, energy intake, milk, water consumption

The data

The data are from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) – Nutrition, which was designed to collect information about the food and nutrient intake of the household population. The CCHS excludes members of the regular Canadian Forces and residents of the three territories, Indian reserves, institutions and some remote areas, as well as all residents (military and civilian) of Canadian Forces bases. Detailed descriptions of the CCHS design, sample and interview procedures are available in a published report. [Full text]

Findings

Asubstantial proportion of Canadians' daily calories come not from what they eat, but from what they drink. This is particularly true for children. According to results from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) – Nutrition, beverages make up almost 20% of the calories consumed by children and teens aged 4 to 18. At ages 1 to 3, beverages account for an even higher 30%. [Full text]

Author

Didier Garriguet (1-613-951-7187; didier.garriguet@statcan.gc.ca) is with the Health Information and Research Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0T6.