title: Association of sports drinks with weight gain among adolescents and young adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Sales of regular soda were declining, but sales of other sweetened beverages, such as sports drinks, were increasing. Our objective was to determine the prospective associations between sports drinks and body mass index (BMI) gains among adolescents and young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  4121 females and 3438 males in the Growing Up Today Study II, aged 9-16 in 2004, from across the United States were followed prospectively. Data were 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Alison E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: Kendrin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Sonneville
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Falbe
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flint
authors.forename: Jess
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Haines
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Camargo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001628:Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D061215:Energy Drinks / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013549:Sweetening Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D014481:United States; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013549:Sweetening Agents