Association of sports drinks with weight gain among adolescents and young adults

OBJECTIVE: Sales of regular soda are declining, but sales of other sweetened beverages, such as sports drinks, are increasing. Our objective was to determine the prospective associations between sports drinks and body mass index (BMI) gains among adolescents and young adults. DESIGN AND METHODS: We prospectively followed 4,121 females and 3,438 males in the Growing Up Today Study II, aged 9–16 in 2004, from across the United States. Data was collected by questionnaire in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2011. Servings per day of various beverages were assessed with a food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: Among the girls, each serving per day of sports drink predicted an increase of 0.3 BMI units (95% confidence interval (CI) CI 0.03–0.54) more than their peers over the next 2–3 years. Among the males, each serving of sports drinks predicted a 0.33 BMI (95% CI 0.09, 0.66) increase. In addition, boys who increased their intake over the 2–3 year interval gained significantly more than their peers during the same time interval. CONCLUSIONS: Intake of sports drinks predicted larger increases in BMI among both females and males. Our results suggest that school policies focused on obesity prevention should be augmented to restrict sports drinks.