Healthy Drinks, Healthy Kids: SSBs, Juice, and Non-Nutritive Sweeteners – A Deeper Dive into the Science and Resulting Recommendations

This webinar was presented live on September 6, 2022. The CPE associated with this activity expires on May 31, 2024.

Establishing healthy beverage patterns in early life is critical to ensuring adequate nutrient intake and promoting overall health in young children. Counter to recommendations for young children to avoid these beverages, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been a public health concern for years. Inconsistent messaging and guidance on SSBs, as well as beverages with non-nutritive sweeteners and juice, for young children (what to drink, how much, and when to introduce), paired with the increasing variety of these beverages in the marketplace leads to confusion among parents and caregivers. Healthy Eating Research (HER), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, convened an expert panel of representatives from key national health and nutrition organizations (including the Academy) to develop a set of consensus recommendations on what young children 0-5 years old should be drinking as part of a healthy diet.

This session will take a deeper dive into the resulting recommendations for SSBs, juice, and beverages with non-nutritive sweeteners. Speakers will describe the scientific evidence behind the expert panel recommendations, and discuss how nutrition professionals can apply these recommendations in practice settings.

This free webinar was supported by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

CPEU: 1.5
CPE Level: 2

Performance Indicators:

• 8.1.1 Interprets and applies evidence-based literature and standards for determining nutritional needs of target audiences.
• 10.3.1 Establishes goals and desired outcomes in collaboration with clients/patients.
• 12.1.3 Collaborates with community partners and stakeholders in promoting health and disease prevention.

Learning Objectives

• Describe the science behind the expert panel recommendations for sugar-sweetened beverages, juice and non-nutritive sweeteners.
• Modify evidence based recommendations designed for population health to be applicable to individuals and families in patient and client settings.
• Apply the expert panel's recommendations for sugar-sweetened beverages, juice and non-nutritive sweeteners to environmental and policy initiatives to improve public health.

Speakers

Emily Callahan, MPH, RDN

Emily Callahan, MPH, RDN, is an independent consultant who works with national organizations to evaluate and communicate research to educate stakeholders, shape environments, and advance policies to promote healthy eating, active living, and population health. In this role Emily has worked on health and nutrition research, policy, and communications projects with nonprofits, government agencies, health professional associations, research and educational institutions and universities, and advocacy groups. She is a registered dietitian with a B.S. in Dietetics from Miami University in Ohio and an M.P.H. in Nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Megan Lott, MPH, RDN

Megan Lott, MPH, RDN, serves as Deputy Director for Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation based at Duke University in Durham, N.C. HER supports research on policy, systems, and environmental approaches to improve healthy eating, food security, and reduce obesity among children. Megan is a registered dietitian with a B.S. in nutrition Sciences and dietetics from the University of Cincinnati and a Master's in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.