Recent study has shown that children who consume high amount of sweetened beverage at age five have higher risk of being overweight when they reach the age of fifteen. Hence, children should be prevented from drinking higher sweetened beverage such as sodas and fruit and sport drinks in excess.

Dr. Laura Fiorito from the Pennsylvania State University in University Park and colleagues analyzed data collected from 166 non-Hispanic white girls between the ages of 5 and 15.
The beverage habits of the study subjects were studied along with weight, height, and body fat.

It was found that girls who drank two or more sweetened drinks daily had higher percentages of body fat and weight as compared to girls who consumed such beverages in less quantity.

Data analysis showed that out of 5 and 15 year old girls drinking less than one drink, only 16 and 19 percent turned overweight. Out of girls drinking two or more sweetened drinks around 39 percent were overweight at five years. Out of these, 32 percent were overweight when they were 15 years old.

Lead researcher Dr. Laura Fiorito said that young children should be provided with milk and water instead of too much of sweetened drinks, as it was also observed that body fat and weight did not vary depending on how much milk or juice made from 100 percent fruit the girls drank.