Children and Soda – Concerned?

Children and Soda in America is a serious concern.  Americans (including very young children) purchase and consume more soda per capita than people in any other country worldwide, despite the numerous health reasons for why we shouldn’t:

• High in calories and sugar,
• Its contains phosphorus which depletes calcium
• Suppresses appetites, therefore may affect needed vitamin levels
• Direct link to tooth decay
• It can cause adrenal exhaustion, especially in young children
• It can lead to blood sugar disorders, including diabetes

The list of detriments to your health can go on and on. However, a recent study published online August 15 in the Journal of Pediatrics shows that consumption of even 1 soft drink per day may be associated with increased negative behavior in young children.

The study included almost 3000 5-year-olds and revealed that those who drank 1 to 4 servings of soda per day had significantly higher aggressive measurement scores than their peers who drank no soda. In addition, those who consumed 2 or more servings had higher withdrawn behavior scores, and those who consumed 4 or more servings had higher attention problem scores.

Compared with children who did not consume any soft drinks, those who had four or more soft drinks a day were over twice as likely to:

• Destroy other people’s belongings
• Physically attack others, and
• Get into fights

Dr. Shakira Suglia, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, says: “We found that the child’s aggressive behavior score increased with every increase in soft drinks servings per day.”

Essentially, researchers found a dose-response relationship, meaning an increase in soda consumption equates to escalating levels of aggressive behavior. After adjusting for several socioeconomic factors, such as depression, researchers discovered that any form of soda consumption could be hazardous.

“Caffeine has been associated with child behavior problems, also sugar — though the scientific evidence is mixed,” Suglia said. Only these two components were examined and the effects of other highly processed ingredients remain silent.

The long-term effects of soda consumption manifest in adults, who suffer from diabetes, obesity, stroke, depression, tooth decay, and all kinds of ailments—also linked to poor diet and processed junk foods heavy in salt, preservatives and color additives. These types of foods provide little to no nutritional value.

It is imperative that as adults, we work to decrease children soda consumption. Who is purchasing the groceries in the house? Who can lead by example?

Water is of course the best replacement, but if you cannot seem to sell your kids on the appeals of water, try these tricks:

• Jazz up your water with slices of fruit
• Purchase water bottles that are your kids very own, decked out in their favorite character, dinosaurs or mermaids
• Try one of the brands that make plain water flavored with natural fruit extract.