Sugary drinks in childhood linked to 52% higher adult hypertension risk

A 25-year study suggests children and teenagers who regularly consume sweetened beverages face a substantially higher risk of developing hypertension in adulthood.

A long-running study has found that children and teenagers who regularly drink sugary beverages may face a higher risk of high blood pressure as adults, adding to evidence that habits formed early in life can have lasting health consequences. Researchers tracked nearly 25,500 participants for up to 25 years and found a clear link between frequent intake of sweetened drinks and later hypertension, according to findings reported by JAMA and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study followed members of the Growing Up Today Study, who were initially aged about 9 to 16, into adulthood. Over the course of the research, 1,625 participants developed hypertension. Those who drank two or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages a day had a 52% higher risk of high blood pressure than those who consumed fewer than three servings a week, the reports said.

The association held even after researchers accounted for body mass index, overall diet quality and physical activity, suggesting that beverage choice itself may have played an important role. Harvard’s public health school said the drinks included soda, sports drinks and fruit juice, while the American College of Cardiology noted that replacing one daily serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage with water, milk or whole fruit was linked with a lower risk of hypertension.

Researchers also drew a distinction between whole fruit and fruit juice. The higher risk was not seen with whole fruit in the same way, likely because fruit contains fibre and other nutrients that are lost or reduced when it is consumed as juice. The findings add to wider concerns about the long-term effects of high sugar intake in childhood and underline the value of encouraging healthier drink choices early in life.