Objective: Although some studies have examined the association between eating behaviour and elevated blood pressure (EBP) in adolescents, current data on the association between sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and EBP in adolescents in Yunnan Province, China, are lacking.Setting: Cluster sampling was used to survey freshmen at a college in Kunming, Yunnan Province, from November to December. Data on SSB consumption were collected using an FFQ measuring height, weight and blood pressure. A logistic regression model was used to analyse the association between SSB consumption and EBP, encompassing prehypertension and hypertension with sex-specific analyses.Participants: The analysis included 4781 college students.Results: Elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were detected in 35 center dot 10 % (1678/4781) and 39 center dot 34 % (1881/4781) of patients, respectively. After adjusting for confounding variables, tea beverage consumption was associated with elevated SBP (OR = 1 center dot 24, 95 % CI: 1 center dot 03, 1 center dot 49, P = 0 center dot 024), and carbonated beverage (OR = 1 center dot 23, 95 % CI: 1 center dot 04, 1 center dot 45, P = 0 center dot 019) and milk beverage (OR = 0 center dot 81, 95 % CI: 0 center dot 69, 0 center dot 95, P = 0 center dot 010) consumption was associated with elevated DBP in college students. Moreover, fruit beverage (OR = 1 center dot 32, 95 % CI: 1 center dot 00, 1 center dot 75, P = 0 center dot 048) and milk beverage consumption (OR = 0 center dot 69, 95 % CI: 0 center dot 52, 0 center dot 93, P = 0 center dot 014) was associated with elevated DBP in males.Conclusion: Our findings indicated that fruit and milk beverage consumption was associated with elevated DBP in males, and no association was observed with EBP in females.