A typical 8-ounce children’s drink contains 60 calories and 16 grams of sugar – more sugar than children should consume in an entire day.

Sugary drinks contribute almost one-half of added sugars consumed by children, and fruit drinks are the most common type of sugary drink for young children.

One serving of many of the highest-selling fruit drink brands has more than 50% of the recommended amount of daily added sugars for children (more than 12.5g).

Brands use similar-looking packages, flavor names, fruit images, and claims for their fruit drinks and 100% fruit juice products.

In 2018, children (ages 2-11) saw more than two times as many ads for drinks with added sugars and/or diet sweeteners.

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Nutrition Resources

Which drinks have the most sugar? Which ones have artificial sweeteners? Use the nutrition tools below to answer these questions and more. These resources include data from nutrition facts panels for children’s drinks collected in 2019 and other sugary drinks collected in 2020.

Drink Nutrition Search

Want to find out about the nutritional quality of drinks? Use this tool to get detailed information about drinks included in the Rudd Center’s recent reports.

What's in Your Child's Drink?

Learn about the nutrition facts label, decoding ingredients lists, and how to choose healthy alternatives to sugary drinks.

Healthy Eating Research Beverage Consensus Statement

Research shows that what children drink from birth through age five has a big impact on their health – both now and for years to come. The nation’s leading health organizations agree that for most kids, the recommendations can help to set children on a path for healthy growth and development.

Marketing Resources

What marketing techniques and practices do sugary drink companies use to target children? To find out about the rankings of companies and brands for each marketing strategy, click here.

Marketing Targeted to Black and Hispanic Youth

Black and Hispanic youth are exposed to more food advertising in the media and their communities compared to White youth. Furthermore, food companies target Black and Hispanic youth with advertising for their least healthy products, including candy, fast food, sugary drinks and snacks. This marketing contributes to health disparities affecting youth in communities of color.

Take Action

Help reduce unhealthy marketing to kids! Join the Food Marketing Workgroup, a great forum for researchers and advocates to share information, support one another’s work, and identify priorities for research and action. Please visit http://www.foodmarketing.org/ for more information.