As schools resume across Nigeria and parents begin restocking lunch boxes and snack packs, health experts are raising fresh concerns about the growing presence of sugary drinks in children’s daily diets, warning that the habit could expose them to serious heart-related conditions at an early age.

A Gombe-based cardiologist, Dr Abubakar Sani, has cautioned that excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases in children, alongside other long-term health complications.

Speaking in an interview on Monday, Sani, a consultant cardiologist at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, said sugary drinks, which are increasingly marketed as convenient refreshment options for schoolchildren, can predispose children to heart disease, hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and obesity if consumed regularly.

He warned that many parents, often unintentionally, pack sugary juices and flavoured drinks into their children’s school lunches without fully understanding the health consequences.

“Many parents regularly include numerous sugary juices and other sugar-sweetened beverages in their children’s school lunch, which are unhealthy for them,” Sani said.

According to him, the problem is compounded during school periods, when children have easier access to sugary drinks through lunch packs, roadside vendors and school canteens.

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“Children consuming too many sugary drinks can also expose them to serious risks like obesity and severe tooth decay,” he added.

Sani noted that the rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Nigeria makes it more urgent for parents to rethink children’s eating and drinking habits, especially at a time when lifestyle-related illnesses are no longer limited to adults.

He stressed that while heart disease is often viewed as an adult condition, dietary habits formed in childhood play a critical role in determining long-term cardiovascular health.

“As schools resume across the country, I advise parents to cut down on sugary drinks for their children, especially when going to school and keeping the drinks out of the home too,” he said.

The cardiologist encouraged parents to prioritise healthier alternatives, describing water as the safest and most beneficial option for children’s hydration.

“I encourage parents to give their children water because water remains the best choice for hydration,” he said.

Health experts note that sugar-sweetened beverages include a wide range of products commonly consumed by children. According to the World Health Organisation, SSBs are beverages that contain free sugars such as sucrose or fructose, and include carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices and drinks, liquid and powder concentrates, flavoured water, energy and sports drinks, ready-to-drink tea and coffee, as well as flavoured milk drinks.

The WHO has warned that sugary drinks offer no nutritional benefit and have no desirable role in a healthy diet, particularly for children. It also links regular consumption of such drinks to weight gain, poor dental health and increased risk of non-communicable diseases later in life.

Public health advocates say the warning is particularly relevant as children return to school environments where peer influence and easy availability can encourage unhealthy choices, making parental guidance and home habits even more important.

They argue that reducing sugary drink consumption at home could help reset children’s taste preferences and lower their dependence on sweetened beverages during school hours.

As the new school term begins, health experts say parents face a crucial choice, convenience versus long-term health, with the contents of a lunch box potentially shaping a child’s wellbeing far beyond the classroom.

Cynthia Nwanonyiri