Beverage consumption in Australian children.

BACKGROUND/
OBJECTIVES: While beverages are an important dietary source of water and some essential nutrients, consumption of sweet beverages has increasingly been linked to adverse health outcomes. Currently there is a paucity of longitudinal consumption data on beverage consumption in Australian children. SUBJECTS/
METHODS: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children has run biennially since 2004. Twenty four-hour recall data collected over 6 waves from the birth cohort (aged 0-1 year at baseline) was analysed and demographics were assessed for associations.
RESULTS: Five thousand one hundred and seven children participated at baseline, with a 71-90% retention of participants at each wave. Water consumption remained consistent with age over time, with more than 90% consuming more than one glass in the last 24-h. Proportions of fruit juice consumers decreased overall. Soft drink and cordial consumer proportions increased from 1% (0-1 year), to 28% (2 years) and 43% (10 years). Between 2 and 10 years, proportions of consumption of full-cream milk decreased by 8% and for skim milk this proportion increased by 51%. High proportions of consumers of soft drink/cordial was significantly associated with older children, males, children with a medical condition, living in a rural area, low socio-economic status and Indigenous Australians.
CONCLUSIONS: Water consumption remained consistently high across the ages, while fruit juice was commonly introduced into the diet early childhood. While proportions of fruit juice consumers decreased after the age of 2 years, proportions of soft drink consumers increased. The findings from this study should assist with surveillance data and inform policy and interventions aimed at reducing consumption of sweet beverages.