Study Finds Children Who Drink Diet Sodas Don’t Consume Fewer Calories

Diet Sodas May Not Help Kids Cut Calories

Kids who favor diet sodas over sugary ones don't consume fewer calories over the course of a day, a new study finds.

And they average 200 more calories daily than their peers who choose water, according to the results of a survey of over 7,000 U.S. children and teens.

"In some studies in adults, it's been found that artificial sweeteners caused a craving for more sweet foods," Stefanski said. "This isn't an automatic association, but if your taste buds are wired to always expect a sweet sensation, plain water might help to decrease that craving for sweets."

Kids who'd had at least 4 ounces of water, and little to no sugary or artificially sweetened drinks, were considered water consumers.

On average, those kids had the lowest calorie intake for the day, and consumed the least amount of sugar and added sugar. In comparison, their peers who had low-calorie sweet drinks -- at least 4 ounces for the day -- consumed 200 more calories, on average.

That put them on par with kids who'd had sugar-sweetened drinks. (Any beverage dubbed sugar-free, diet, light, low-calorie or no-calorie was categorized as a low-calorie sweetened drink.)

On the other hand, kids who drank diet beverages were doing better in some ways, the study found. They consumed less daily sugar for the day -- including added sugars -- than those who drank sugar-sweetened beverages.

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