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All those lattes, pops and juices add up. What you drink over the course of a day might as well be counted as a full meal, according to new report on beverage consumption from Statistics Canada.

Children aged 1 to 3 consume about 30 per cent of their calories from drinks, mostly milk. From age 4 though adulthood, that percentage drops to about 20. But against the 80 per cent of calories that come from snacks and meals, "drinks are almost a meal in themselves," Statscan senior analyst Didier Garriguet says. "What you drink is basically the same [amount of calories] as what you eat for lunch."

Some of those calories are a lot less nutritious than lunch, and come with potentially detrimental ingredients including sugar, caffeine and alcohol.

The report is the first time Statscan has taken a statistical snapshot of what Canadians drink. The data were gleaned from a 2004 survey of 35,107 people about their consumption in a 24-hour period - the first such poll since the 1970s - and set a benchmark that will allow researchers to follow trends, Mr. Garriguet says.

Marla Gold is director of McGill University's cardiovascular health improvement program in Montreal, which runs teen weight-loss and health programs. She says four-day food diaries are key to showing teens just how many calories they are drinking. "It opens their eyes - they often don't equate liquids with calories," she says.

As they age, teenage boys in particular pick up a soft drink habit, according to Statscan. Fifty-three per cent of teenage boys drink sugary soft drinks on any given day. Dietitians warn that those drinks not only have a high sugar content, they have no nutritional value.

The new data also reveal some hidden truths about teenage girls, says Mary McKenna, a registered dietitian and professor of nutrition at the University of New Brunswick. Even though they aren't drinking as many soft drinks as the boys - only 35 per cent report drinking soda the day before the survey - girls are also skipping milk more. About half report drinking no milk on the day of the survey. Dr. McKenna calls the girls' low milk consumption "scary" because of their continuing need for bone-building calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients.

After the age of 30, coffee becomes the most-consumed beverage after water, peaking in people aged 31 to 50. Among those who drank coffee, men averaged about 2½ cups a day, women a little less.

But about 20 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women aged 31 to 70 exceeded the Health Canada recommended maximum daily intake of 400 milligrams of caffeine, equivalent to about three cups of coffee.

Coffee accounts for 81 per cent of the caffeine consumed. For some people, the report points out, too much caffeine can cause side effects, including anxiety, headaches and abnormal heart rhythms.

About one-quarter of men aged 19 to 50 reported drinking beer the day before the survey, with men aged 19 to 30 drinking more than three bottles. Mr. Garriguet says about 20 per cent of men and 8 per cent of women are exceeding the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health guidelines by consuming more than two drinks a day.

Observers are concerned about the water consumption among those aged 71 or older. It drops to 500 grams for men and 654 grams for women - compared with 1,360 grams and 1,194 grams respectively for those aged 19 to 30. As we age, the mechanism that triggers thirst becomes less sensitive and we have a lower percentage of body weight as water. So we're more at risk of dehydration, Dr. McKenna says.