A new health report is taking aim at those sweet coffee drinks which many teens sip throughout the day, along with other beverages containing caffeine, stimulants and sugar. Walking the halls of American high schools, you will often see coffee drinks in the hands of students during their first hour of class. Some high schools even have on-campus coffee shops.

The new report says that children up to age 18 should avoid beverages with caffeine altogether. Instead they are to drink plain water and milk.

The report is a joint work by experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American Heart Association and American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. The new evidence-based recommendations are for the optimal nutrition and hydration of children ages five to 18 years. Its recommendations are surprisingly simple:

• Drink plain water and pasteurized milk
• Limit the amount of 100-percent juice, plant-based milk alternatives and flavored milks
• Avoid sweetened beverages, beverages with non-sugar sweeteners and beverages with caffeine and other stimulants

Some of the surprise in these recommendations comes from the fact that they are different from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans which specifies that fortified soy beverages belong in the dairy group because they have key nutrients similar to milk. In addition, the Dietary Guidelines count 100-percent juices as equal to whole fruit – noting that whole fruit should account for half of daily fruit servings.

The other surprise is that the recommendations are only for two beverages: plain water and milk.

So how is a parent to ‘wean’ their kids from the many beverages kids (my own included!) love to drink?

The first thing to do is begin the process. Just one caffeinated or sugar-sweetened beverage less per day is a step in the right direction.

Here are some answers from our dietitians for a few other questions parents may have:

My kids like going to coffee with their friends. How can they keep that social connection without the caffeine and sugar?

Getting coffee with friends is a big deal for teens and tweens. Recently, the very first thing my own teen daughter told me at school pickup was about the announcement of the new Starbucks seasonal flavors. I get it.

But teens also need to know that Starbucks and other coffee houses do have healthier alternatives to beverages with 320 milligrams of caffeine or 79 grams of added sugar per cup! (For comparison, one cup of coffee contains around 80 to 100 milligrams of caffeine.)

Lower caffeine and lower sugar alternatives include:

• Milk steamer with one pump of any flavored syrup (contains about five grams of added sugar)
• Steamed apple juice in the fall
• Plain lemonade
• Any iced green tea options (contains around 25 to 30 milligrams caffeine)

And be sure to watch for ‘hidden’ caffeine. There are so many new drinks at coffee shops, sometimes it’s hard to know how to direct your teen away from those containing caffeine. It may be obvious that popular brightly colored “energy” flavor pumps added to seltzer have caffeine – around 80 milligrams of caffeine in just one pump. But even the Starbucks Lemonade Refresher contains around 100 mg of caffeine.

Can energy drinks help my teen athlete’s sports performance?

There is no safe amount of caffeine for children. The new report points out that consuming caffeine can lead to mental health issues including depressive moods, anxiety, stress and self-harm.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry suggests speaking with children about the risks of caffeine. Caffeine does not affect one child the same way it may affect another.

In one year, nearly 1,500 kids (12 to 17 years) went to the emergency room for an energy drink-related emergency.

And it’s not just young athletes who may want to consume energy drinks. The most popular drink at my daughter’s high school, Alani Nu, comes in colorful cans and is marketed as part of a lifestyle of wellness. But a can contains a whopping 200 milligrams of caffeine and a list of stimulants like taurine. The new joint Academy of Pediatrics report warned that stimulants like taurine and caffeine are not recommended in isolation, and they are particularly cautioned when combined.

Homemade energy drinks using herbal or low-caffeine green tea may be an alternative that is acceptable to teens, or occasionally plain sparkling water.

My kid doesn’t like milk.

American children fall short of many of the nutrients found in milk. Milk is one of the easiest ways for children to reach the recommended amounts of several important nutrients. This includes vitamin D, potassium and calcium. Calcium and potassium are in many other foods. But vitamin D is not.

Vitamin D is essential for several body systems including bone growth, the nervous system and the immune system.

Kids ages five to 18 need at least 600 IU of vitamin D daily. One cup of milk has 100 to 120 IU. Canned tuna is one of the best sources of vitamin D, even so, a whole (five-ounce) can of tuna has 80 IUs, only 10 percent of the daily value. Unless kids eat fish most days of the week, it’s difficult to get enough vitamin D without drinking three cups of milk or a milk alternative that’s fortified with at least 100 IU of vitamin D. Yogurt and cheese are generally not usually good sources of vitamin D.

Kids can drink chocolate milk as part of the school lunch program. At home, here are a few ways to get kids used to plain milk again:

• Start with a breakfast cereal that kids like and pour on a small amount of cow’s milk; gradually increase the amount of milk over several weeks.
• Make overnight oats
• Cook with milk and ‘hide’ milk in a milk-based soup like Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup
• Serve a smoothie with meals
• Add frozen fruit to a cup of milk. The fruit makes it extra cold and melts into strawberry or blueberry flavored milk.

For kids with milk allergies, the new joint research group has recommendations on finding the right milk alternative for children with milk allergies or who are vegan.

Isn’t flavored water a good option?

No. According to the report, carbonated and non-carbonated water is not a good regular drink due to its acidic nature, which can be harmful to teeth. Flavored sparkling waters can also contain artificial sweeteners which are not recommended for tweens or teens.

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