Topics: Nutrition, Social Media, Wellness
My first time drinking soda was when I was 8 years old. I remember it vividly because it was my birthday party and my parents had let me and 15 of my friends go to the local roller-skating park near our home in New Jersey. As a treat everyone was allowed to drink coke and eat pizza, the perfect combination one might say for a birthday party. Growing up, soda was seldom around and to this day, I am not a huge soda drinker. I guess I can blame that on my parents!
Recently, I attended the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s first national Life’s Sweeter Sugary Drinks Summit. The conference looked to motivate and strengthen national, state, and local initiatives, both public and private, to reduce sugary-drink consumption in the United States. I was surprised when I heard about a “Soda Summit” but even more shocked when I started doing some investigation and realized that there is strong scientific evidence indicating a link between sugary drink consumption and obesity.
Now for some of you who might be wondering what exactly are some of these notorious sugary drinks, below is a short list:
- Non-diet carbonated beverages
- Fruit-ades such as lemonade, fruit punch, powdered fruit drinks, and fruit drinks containing less than 100% fruit juice
- Sports drinks
- Flavored waters
- Energy drinks
- Sweetened teas
This list sounds like most of the drinks you see in schools, restaurants, movie theaters, sports arenas, and hospital cafeterias, doesn’t it? So how have these beverages, with no nutritional value and serious health risks, taken over the market and replaced the old fashioned tap water that I was forced to drink growing up? At the conference I learned about the power of marketing and the ways that soda companies have purposely marketed their beverages to low-income communities and convinced the American public that soda is not only cool but a lifestyle choice. Sound vaguely familiar to Joe Camel or the Malboro Man?
There are many reasons to reduce sugary drink consumption in your home, school, or work. More Americans need to start caring about this issue, especially as we are in a health crisis with childhood obesity. Here are a few facts that I learned at the Soda Conference that I wanted to share:
- More than two-thirds of American adults and one in three children are overweight or obese.
- Health-care costs related to obesity total about $150 billion per year.
- Sugary drinks, few of which have any nutritional value, account for half of all added sugars in the average American diet.
- Research has demonstrated a direct relationship between consumption of sugary drinks and an increase in the risk of overweight and obesity, which in turn promote diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and many other health problems.
- Consumption of calories from sugary drinks doubled between 1977 and 2002, though consumption has declined somewhat since then; in the mid-1990s, consumption of sugary drinks began to exceed the intake of milk.
- Sugary drinks’ empty calories displace calories from foods, such as non-fat or low-fat milk, that are rich in nutrients.
- The sizes of standard sugary drink containers have exploded in the past decades, expanding from a standard serving of 6.5 ounces in the 1950s to 20 ounces today.
- Each additional sugary drink consumed per day increases the likelihood of a child’s becoming obese by about 60 percent, according to one study.
- The sugar and acid in soft drinks promote tooth decay and enamel erosion, which are particularly prevalent among low-income and minority youth.
- According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2006, the carbonated beverage industry spent $492 million marketing directly to youth.
- According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, individuals should drink water instead of sugary drinks. www.choosemyplate.gov
Following the conference there has been great dialog about sugary beverages and the amount of sugary beverages that Americans are consuming. Some states have started taking preventive steps to tax restaurants, movie theaters, and businesses that sell soda beverages larger than 16 ounces. Below are some great links to watch that show interesting commentary from the conference. After attending the conference I decided I was going to try and give the boot to sugary drinks for good! Let us know what you think about the power of pop in your school or community?
Washington Post article “Former Coke executive slams ‘share of stomach’ marketing campaign”
ABC World News Tonight – featuring Todd Putman