High blood pressure, or hypertension, used to be considered an ailment of older adults. Today, it's being diagnosed earlier in life, with providers seeing it more often in children, teens and young adults. High blood pressure in the young paves the way for serious health outcomes like a heart attack or stroke as they age.

“The higher rate of early diagnoses highlights the importance of early detection and prevention,” Vasanti Malik, senior author on a new study, told TheDoctor. One of the culprits, Malik and an international team of researchers found, is long-term consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juices, which appears to increase a person's risk of hypertension.

Kids who said they drank two or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages a day had an over 50 percent greater risk of hypertension than those who reported drinking less than three servings a week.

Responses to food frequency questionnaires from almost 26,000 participants between ages nine and 16 enrolled in the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS) were included in the study. Participants filled out these questionnaires every one to four years and were followed for up to 25 years.

Participants who said they drank two or more servings of sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, fruit punches, lemonades, iced teas, sports drinks and non-carbonated fruit drinks a day had a 52 percent greater risk of hypertension than those who drank less than three servings a week. One 12-ounce can or glass of sugar-sweetened beverages was considered one serving. Each daily serving of soda was associated with a 23 percent greater risk of hypertension and each serving of sports drinks was associated with a 36 percent greater risk.

“Skip the sports drinks,” Malik said. The best way for kids and teens to stay hydrated is to drink water.

A child's overall diet quality and physical activity levels did not improve the concerning association between sugar-sweetened beverages/fruit juices and hypertension risk.

Fruit juices weren't much better. One eight-ounce glass of apple juice, orange juice and other 100 percent fruit drinks was considered a serving. Kids who said they drank one-and-a-half servings or more of fruit juice a day had a 35 percent higher risk of hypertension than those who drank one serving a week.

Each daily serving of orange juice was associated with a 20 percent higher risk of hypertension, although other fruit juices did not increase hypertension risk. Orange-flavored drinks with added sugar, however, may have been misreported by participants as orange juice when they filled out their questionnaire.

“Fruit juice is sugar in liquid form,” said Malik, and should be treated like soda. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids and teens between the ages of seven and 18 years old limit themselves to one eight-ounce glass of juice a day. Kids and parents may want to try diluting juice with water or sparkling water for a treat.

Substituting one serving of whole fruit like apples, oranges, bananas, mangoes, grapes, pears, melons, peaches and strawberries for one serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage was expected to offer a 22 percent lower risk of hypertension. Substituting whole fruit for fruit juice was associated with a 19 percent lower risk.

Try diluting 100 percent juice with water or sparkling water for a treat.

Substituting whole, skim or low-fat milk or water for sugar-sweetened beverages reduced the risk of hypertension by up to 13 percent. Substituting fruit juice for milk or water had no effect on hypertension risk. Other factors such as diet quality and physical activity levels did not improve the worrisome association between sugar-sweetened beverages/fruit juices and hypertension risk.

In 2019, several health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association, came out with a set of guidelines called Healthy Drinks, Healthy Kids that outlines what kids should and should not drink.

According to the guidelines, children between the ages of four and five years old should drink 12 to 40 ounces of water a day, up to 20 ounces of fat-free (skim) or low-fat (one percent) milk a day and up to four to six ounces of 100 percent fruit juice a day.

The study is published in Circulation.