Sodas: What are We Really Giving to Our Children?
by Dr. Katie Greeley B.S., D.C.
Sodas and Children:
As our kids transition from childhood to adolescence, parents need to pay as much attention to their child’s soda consumption as they do to the new adventures in middle school. And, as a new variety of physical and emotional issues arise in the pre-teen years, so can a not so nutritious diet.
With vending machines being commonplace in schools, it’s no wonder that our kid’s soda consumption has doubled in recent years.
According to the National Soft Drink Association (NSDA), consumption of soft drinks now tops 600 12-ounce servings (12 oz.) per person per year.
Young males ages 12 to 29 are the biggest consumers at over 160 gallons per year – that’s almost 2 quarts per day! Furthermore, according to an article in Beverage, January 1999, “Influencing elementary school students is very important to soft drink marketers.”
This is disturbing when we consider that the most commonly associated health risks from soda consumption are obesity, diabetes and other blood sugar disorders, tooth decay, osteoporosis and bone fractures, nutritional deficiencies, heart disease, food addictions and eating disorders, neurotransmitter dysfunction from chemical sweeteners, and neurological and adrenal disorders from excessive caffeine.
And, when watching any local TV station today, we see just as many ads for soda as we do for the current epidemics of childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes.
Schools and Paid Advertising for Soda:
Even more disturbing, some schools and local kid hangouts are actually paid to carry soda advertisements. In fact, soda companies spend most of their advertising budget on campaigns aimed at America’s youth.
As a result, a 1994 report published in the Journal of Adolescent Health shows a “strong association between cola beverage consumption and bone fractures in girls.”
This study concluded with the following:
“The high consumption of carbonated beverages and the declining consumption of milk are of great public health significance for girls and women because of their proneness to osteoporosis in later life.”
Furthermore, a study of 460 high school girls published in Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine in June 2000 indicated that cola beverages are “highly associated with bone fractures.”
Harvard School of Public Health professor Grace Wyshak recently found that ninth and 10th-grade girls who sipped soda were three times more likely to break bones than those who quenched their thirsts with other drinks.
Worse, her study found that physically active girls who drank colas were five times more likely to break bones as physically active girls who abstained from carbonated beverages. Wyshak believes the phosphoric acid in colas may interfere with the body’s ability to use calcium.
Children Drinking More Soda:
Our children are drinking more and more soda every decade. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in October, 2004, since 1977, U.S. soft drink consumption has increased by 135 percent.
And twenty years ago, boys consumed more than twice as much milk as soft drinks, and girls consumed 50 percent more milk than soft drinks.
By 1996, both boys and girls consumed twice as much soda as milk (USDA). Decreased milk consumption means that children are no longer getting required amounts of calcium in their diets. Therefore, since 1977, energy intake from milk has dropped by 38 percent. This is the same period of time during which soda consumption skyrocketed.
About the Author:
Dr. Katie Greeley is a chiropractor and a mother of two living in Simi Valley, California. She has taken extra courses on pediatrics above and beyond the regular doctorate degree. Dr. Greeley is the owner of the practice United Family Chiropractic is located in Wood Ranch at 1070 Country Club Dr. West #D Simi Valley, Ca. Her office can be reached at 805-522-2324 for further questions.
Tags: Pediatric Chiropractic, soda
