Is Drinking Water One Way to Cut Down on Soda?

The last few years have seen a dearth of studies on the dangerous effects of sugar and, more specifically, sugary drinks. Why, one might wonder, does soda attract so much attention? Indeed, so much interest in the effects of soda consumption has instigated a huge backlash from the industry, which has been at pains to quash suggestions that its products are quickly eroding public health.

The reason for all of this scrutiny is actually fairly straightforward. A recent report by two of the leading medical groups in the U.S. laid it out quite clearly: added sugars are fueling the obesity crisis, specifically among children, and nearly half of an American's daily glucose intake is consumed in the form of sugary drinks. One of those groups, the American Heart Association, also published a study linking sugary drink consumption to premature death.

An obvious antidote to our soda guzzling addiction?

For researchers and health experts, the full picture of soda’s dangerous effects is a work in progress. For the rest of us, however, we hardly need to wait for the last word on the subject to understand quite clearly the high risks and fleeting rewards of soda consumption. This is doubly true when it comes to kids, who are especially prone to becoming addicted to sugary drinks.

A recent study suggests that one possible solution to excessive soda consumption among U.S. children has been hiding in plain sight: drinking more water. Using data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in their annual National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers investigated the connection between water and soda consumption. While the design of the survey prevented them from drawing a causal relationship between lack of water and excess soda, the significant results strongly suggest a connection between the two.¹

Avoiding soda starts with healthier habits for kids

The study relies on its most unambiguous figure to drive home its point. From 2011 to 2016, one-fifth of U.S. children reported no plain water intake at all on a given day. The members of this group, however, consumed nearly twice as many calories from sugary drinks as those who drank even a small amount of water. In other words, kids seemed to be replacing water with soda.

“Kids who don’t drink water are more likely to get their fluids elsewhere,” said Dr. Nathalie Muth, a dietician and pediatrician who discussed the study with CNN. “All it takes is an extra 70 calories or so per day for a child to gain excess weight and be at risk for overweight or obesity.”²

Despite the study’s inability to produce a direct link between soda consumption and lack of water, the authors recommend increasing water intake to combat excess caloric and sugar intake. Improving children’s access to safe, free water, they say, could go a long way towards sparing the next generation from our national sugar addiction.

Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD

This article has been medically reviewed by Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD.

Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD is an aesthetic medicine specialist whose work focuses on patients who are treated for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other weight-related issues through nutritional analysis, keto diet programs, and supporting medications.

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Ryan Mernin

Ryan is a freelance writer and editor based in Philadelphia. He has edited books of Chinese philosophy, interviewed bands as a music journalist, and labored over satirical treatises in the candlelit hours of the early morning. He has also tended bar.

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