News Article

For: June Issue

To: Gulf Coast Womens News

By: Linda K. Bowman, Ext. Agt. IV - Family & Consumer Sciences

Santa Rosa County Extension Service

Telephone: 850/623-3868 or 939-1259, ext. 1360

What Are Kids Drinking?

“What are kids drinking? It sure looks scary to me!”

Each time I go to the gas station or grocery store, I am exposed to more weird looking beverages aimed at children and teens. Horrifying graphics, such as skull and cross bones, nasty-sounding names, or “foods shouldn’t be that color” containers line cooler after cooler.

These new young-age beverages are aimed to grab pre-MTV generation kids’ attention. Drink advertisements jump off billboards, TV screens and are peppered through all teen magazines. This advertising works. The sugary soda, spin-off herbal and high-powered caffeine beverage industries have bloomed like algae.

A research article by Lisa Harnack, Dr.PH, RD, et al., entitled Soft Drink Consumption Among US Children and Adolescents: Nutritional Consequences is reported in a recent American Dietetic Association Journal. The results are alarming. Dr. Harnack cited US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Continuing Surveys of Food Intakes and found dramatic increases in soda consumption in the last 20 years. On any given day, 74% of adolescent boys and 65% of adolescent girls consume soft drinks.

The researchers also found 12 percent of pre-schoolers drank more than 9 ounces of soda per day! One in four adolescents drank more than 26 ounces per day. Do you want to read those last two sentences again?

Soda drinkers were found to eat fewer vegetables, fruits, fruit juices and milk products than non-soda drinkers. The study found the children that consumed more than 26 ounces of soda per day were four times as likely to consume less than 8 ounces of milk per day than non-soda drinkers. These same kids were found more likely to drink less than four ounces of fruit juice per day.

These syrupy sweet chemical mixes of empty calories put children at great nutritional risk. The diet versions are just as dangerous. It has been found that the more soda a child drinks the less their total intake of protein, calcium, magnesium, riboflavin, vitamin A and vitamin C. Also, the greater their intake of sugar, caffeine, phosphorous and food additives.

Peak bone mass occurs in adolescence and early adulthood. This means if you do not lay down adequate calcium early in life you are at a much greater risk of osteoporosis with age. A low calcium intake group was recently reported to have a 50 percent increase in hip fracture rates. Another consideration is the high phosphorous content of sodas. Phosphorous is known to further deplete the body of calcium. As these regular soda consumers age, their risk of bone loss and subsequent fractures and pain will be quite high.

The easy to digest results of this study found that the average soft drink consuming child took in approximately 200 more calories per day than non-soft drinkers. This calorie difference would equate to a 20 pounds of fat per year weight gain. A child that consumes a 6 pack of 12-ounce soda per day has consumed enough calories to gain over 95 pounds per year.

An easy conclusion is soda makes kids fat. The National Health Examination Surveys, 1963 to 1991, by the USDA show a rapid trend of seriously obese children. Among 6 to 17 year olds, 11 percent today are seriously overweight.

As a dietician, I recommend that parents limit the use of soft drinks in young children. If they get in the habit of drinking healthy beverages, they will be less likely to consume too many soft drinks as teens or adults.

For further information contact: Linda Bowman, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, The University of Florida--Santa Rosa County Cooperative Extension Service--IFAS, at (850)623-3868 or (850)939-1259, Ext. 1360 for south county residents, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Hearing-impaired individuals may call Santa Rosa County Emergency Management Service at 983-5373 (TDD).

Extension Service programs are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap or national origin. The use of trade names in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information. It is not a guarantee, warranty, or endorsement of the product name(s) and does not signify that they are approved to the exclusion of others.