Influences of Lifestyle Intervention on Beverage Consumption: Insights from a Pediatric Study

The 10-week lifestyle camp intervention targeted beverage choices in children who were overweight or obese; beverage intake is a modifiable contributor to total energy intake and cardiometabolic risk.

This controlled lifestyle intervention enrolled 190 children aged 7–14 years with overweight or obesity, delivered a 10-week multicomponent camp, and used beverage intake as primary dietary endpoints measured by a food-frequency questionnaire. Follow-up assessments occurred at 10 weeks, one year, and three years; primary outcomes included odds of high sugar-sweetened and non‑caloric beverage intake and serial anthropometric measures such as BMI-SDS, body fat percentage, and skeletal muscle mass. These measures matter for counseling because beverage patterns are actionable targets that can be tracked alongside BMI and body composition.

At 10 weeks, participants had markedly lower odds of reporting high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and non‑caloric beverages compared with baseline after the 10-week lifestyle camp intervention, with large reductions (SSBs OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.07–0.28; NCBs OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.11–0.34) and increased water intake—confirming short-term efficacy. The magnitude and precision of these immediate effects show the camp shifted beverage choices in the near term, suggesting camps can be used to achieve rapid improvements for brief post-intervention counseling windows.

By the three-year follow-up, reductions in sugar-sweetened beverages, non‑caloric beverages, and water intake had largely attenuated, returning toward baseline for most categories and indicating loss of sustained effect. These long-term data highlight the need for maintenance strategies and structured post-camp support to preserve early gains.

Across the study period, correlations between changes in beverage intake and anthropometric outcomes were weak to moderate (Spearman’s rho ≈ ±0.19–0.31 for BMI‑SDS, body fat percentage, and skeletal muscle mass), indicating beverage change alone has limited explanatory power for long-term adiposity.

Beverage-focused efforts thus belong in broader, multicomponent programs that address diet, activity, and other behavioral drivers.

Key Takeaways:

• Prioritize ongoing behavioral supports to sustain beverage changes after short-term programs.
• Target children with overweight/obesity who show initial beverage improvements and schedule periodic reassessments to detect regression.
• Embed beverage goals within comprehensive diet and activity strategies, since beverage change alone explains limited variance in long-term adiposity.