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What Are We Feeding Our Kids?
Carbohydrate-Addicted Kids
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HEALTH & MEDICAL
Want Your Kids to Cut Down on Colas?
By Kathleen Doheny from HealthDay.com
HealthDayNews -- If you
want your teenager to veer away from the
vending machine in the school cafeteria this
fall, you need to swear off soft drinks
yourself.
That's because new research shows parents who
drink soda set the stage for their kids to do
the same.
In most U.S. households with children or
teens, soda has become a staple. The average
intake of soft drinks by children aged 2 to 17
has increased from about 6.9 ounces per day in
1989 to 9.5 ounces per day in 1995 -- a 38
percent increase. Among teen boys, the intake is
higher; they gulp down an average of nearly 22
ounces a day.
This excess soda consumption is partly to
blame for rising overweight and obesity rates.
And some research has linked too much soda
consumption to a rise in blood pressure,
especially in black teens, perhaps increasing
the risk of hypertension later on.
So, if you want your kids to cut down on the
colas, you must start by setting a good example,
claims research in the August issue of the
Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
When Mary Story, a professor of public health
nutrition at the University of Minnesota School
of Public Health and her colleagues evaluated
the soda drinking habits of 560 children, aged 8
to 13, they found that youths whose parents
regularly drank soft drinks were nearly three
times more likely to drink soda five or more
times a week compared to those youths whose
parents didn't drink sodas.
Not surprisingly, the kids who really liked
the taste were also more likely to drink soda.
If they had a taste preference for soda, they
were 4.5 times more likely to drink it five or
more times a week, Story's team found.
In the study, about 30 percent of the
children who responded consumed soft drinks
every day; only 18 percent reported drinking
them less than once a week. And 85 percent of
the students surveyed said they typically drank
regular soft drinks, not diet, boosting the
calorie and sugar intake for the day.
Since setting a good example might not be
enough to change this unhealthy eating
habit,
here are other ways to wean your kids off soft
drinks:
- Go cold turkey: Here's the script Story
suggests: "It's a new school year, and we're
not having soft drinks in the house." She put
the plan into action years ago, telling her
children, now college students, that sodas
wouldn't typically be in the house but would
be reserved for special occasions out, and
perhaps for holidays and birthdays at home.
They adapted, she said. There's nothing wrong
with the cold turkey approach, agreed Lona
Sandon, an assistant professor at the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center and a spokeswoman for the American
Dietetic Association. "The good news is that
soda is not addictive," she said, "so going
cold turkey to break the habit is not going to
hurt anyone."
- Have alternatives ready: "Fill a pitcher
with water and keep it in the refrigerator,"
Story said. "Or keep 100 percent juice in the
house." On hot days, lemonade is OK, she
added. Non-caloric flavored water or sparkling
waters are other good options.
- Spell out why you're anti-soda: "One
12-ounce can of soda has the equivalent of 9.5
teaspoons of sugar, or one-quarter of a cup,"
said Jeannie Moloo, a spokeswoman for the
American Dietetic Association. "Put this
amount in a baggie, measure it out, and show
it to your kids. It's quite effective."
According to the U.S, Department of
Agriculture, you should add no more than 10
teaspoons of sugar a day to your diet if you
consume 2,000 calories daily.
- Get involved in a "Can the Soda" campaign
at school: Moloo did this a few years back. "I
went and talked to the administrators of my
son and daughter's elementary school...," she
said. She also joined a parent committee that
succeeded in getting soda dispensers out of
the school.
More information
SOURCES: Mary Story, Ph.D., R.D., professor,
public health nutrition, University of Minnesota
School of Public Health, Minneapolis; Jeannie
Moloo, R.D., spokeswoman, American Dietetic
Association; Lona Sandon, R.D., assistant
professor, University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center at Dallas, and spokeswoman,
American Dietetic Association; August 2004
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
KidsHealth.org
- KidsHealth is the largest and most visited site
on the Web providing doctor-approved health
information about children from before birth
through adolescence. Created by The Nemours
Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media,
KidsHealth provides families with accurate,
up-to-date, and jargon-free health information
they can use.
www.kidshealth.org |
