Parents see many sugary drinks as healthy

Healthy Tip for the month :        

      

Most parents know that soda isn’t good for their children, but many perceive other drinks with a lot of added sugar—fruit drinks (excluding 100% fruit juice), sports drinks, and flavored water, in particular—as healthy, a new study reports.

 

The study also found that ingredient claims on beverage packaging significantly affect buying decisions for many parents.

 

The online survey of 982 parents of children aged between 2 and 7 years—80% female, 72% some college education, 46% nonwhite or Hispanic—found that 96% of them had provided sugary drinks for their children in the previous month. They most often supplied fruit drinks (77%) and nondiet soda (62%), followed by sports drinks (51%), sweetened iced tea (42%), and flavored water (39%).

 

**By Karen Bardossi