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Maternal Nutrition, Infants and Children

Beverage consumption among European adolescents in the HELENA study

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 66, pages 244–252 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

Our objective was to describe the fluid and energy consumption of beverages in a large sample of European adolescents.

Subjects/Methods:

We used data from 2741 European adolescents residing in 8 countries participating in the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence Cross-Sectional Study (HELENA-CSS). We averaged two 24-h recalls, collected using the HELENA-dietary assessment tool. By gender and age subgroup (12.5–14.9 years and 15–17.5 years), we examined per capita and per consumer fluid (milliliters (ml)) and energy (kilojoules (kJ)) intake from beverages and percentage consuming 10 different beverage groups.

Results:

Mean beverage consumption was 1611 ml/day in boys and 1316 ml/day in girls. Energy intake from beverages was about 1966 kJ/day and 1289 kJ/day in European boys and girls, respectively, with sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) (carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, including soft drinks, fruit drinks and powders/concentrates) contributing to daily energy intake more than other groups of beverages. Boys and older adolescents consumed the most amount of per capita total energy from beverages. Among all age and gender subgroups, SSBs, sweetened milk (including chocolate milk and flavored yogurt drinks all with added sugar), low-fat milk and fruit juice provided the highest amount of per capita energy. Water was consumed by the largest percentage of adolescents followed by SSBs, fruit juice and sweetened milk. Among consumers, water provided the greatest fluid intake and sweetened milk accounted for the largest amount of energy intake followed by SSBs. Patterns of energy intake from each beverage varied between countries.

Conclusions:

European adolescents consume an average of 1455 ml/day of beverages, with the largest proportion of consumers and the largest fluid amount coming from water. Beverages provide 1609 kJ/day, of which 30.4%, 20.7% and 18.1% comes from SSBs, sweetened milk and fruit juice, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

The HELENA Study takes place with the financial support of the European Community Sixth RTD Framework Programme (Contract FOOD-CT-2005-007034). The content of this article reflects only the author's views and the European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. TDV is financially supported by the Research Foundation—Flanders (Grant number: 1.1.746.09.N.01). We also wish to thank Rick O’Hara for exceptional assistance with the data management and programming, Carmen Piernas for her help with translation and organization of the beverage data, Ms Frances L Dancy for administrative assistance, Mr Tom Swasey for graphics support and the entire HELENA team.This study is supported by the National Institutes of Health (T32 MH075854).

Author information

Author notes

  1. K J Duffey, I Huybrechts, T Mouratidou, L Libuda, M Kersting, T De Vriendt, F Gottrand, K Widhalm, J Dallongeville, L Hallström, M González-Gross, S De Henauw, L A Moreno and B M Popkin: A full listing of the HELENA Study Group can be found in the Supplementary information available at The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition's website.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    K J Duffey & B M Popkin

  2. Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    I Huybrechts, T De Vriendt & S De Henauw

  3. GENUD (‘Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development’) Research Group, EU. Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    T Mouratidou & L A Moreno

  4. Research Institute of Child Nutrition Dortmund, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany

    L Libuda & M Kersting

  5. Research Foundation-Flanders, Brussels, Belgium

    T De Vriendt

  6. Inserm U995, IFR119, Faculty of Medicine, University Lille2, University Hospital J De Flandre, Lille, France

    F Gottrand

  7. Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    K Widhalm

  8. Institut Pasteur de Lille, France

    J Dallongeville

  9. Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalens University, Västerås, Sweden and Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge, Sweden

    L Hallström

  10. Department of Health and Human Performance, Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciencies (INEF), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    M González-Gross

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  1. K J Duffey
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Correspondence to B M Popkin.

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Duffey, K., Huybrechts, I., Mouratidou, T. et al. Beverage consumption among European adolescents in the HELENA study. Eur J Clin Nutr 66, 244–252 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2011.166

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