What Teens Are Drinking

There's good news and bad news when it comes to what teenagers are drinking these days, and that could have a big impact on their health.

Although teens are now choosing healthier drinks, they are still reaching for sodas far too often.

The CDC found that teenagers are drinking more water, milk and juices than they used to. Their national survey found that nearly three quarters of teens drank at least one glass of water a day, almost half drank one glass of milk a day and 30% drank 100% fruit juice. This is good because these types of drinks can help keep kids healthy and help them avoid excessive weight gain.

But, unfortunately, the same survey found that although soda drinking is down, around 1 out of every 4 teens admitted to still drinking one soda a day. Interestingly, although boys were more likely than girls to drink milk and whole fruit juices, they were also more likely to drink soda daily. And when you add how many teens drink other sugary sports drinks it turns out that nearly two thirds of teens drank a sweetened beverage everyday.

Those sugary drinks, even just one a day, can pack on the calories and pounds and that can add to the obesity and overweight problems we are seeing in today's teens. But hopefully this downward trend in sweetened drinks will continue and more teens will find the benefits of simply reaching for a glass of water, milk, or 100% fruit juice to quench their thirst.