Sugary drinks add 300 calories a day to youths' diets
Teens who drink soda, energy drinks and other sugary beverages are guzzling about 327 calories a day from them, which is equal to about 2½ cans of cola, new government data show.
Tim Boyle, Getty Images
About 52% of sugary drinks are consumed at home; 48% away from home.
And people ages 20-39 who drink sugary beverages consume 336 calories a day from them.
Some people are getting a lot of their daily calories from the drinks, says Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted the research.
The latest analysis shows that half of people in the USAdrink sugary beverages on any given day, and about 25% consume at least 200 calories a day from them. About 5% of people ages 2 and older consume at least 567 calories a day from such drinks.
That's a national problem, nutrition experts say. "Sugar-sweetened beverages are the No. 1 single source of calories in the American diet and account for about half of all added sugars that people consume," says Rachel Johnson, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and a nutrition professor at theUniversity of Vermont.
Ogden says that "the reason we are interested in sugary drinks is they are associated with a variety of conditions including obesity and type 2 diabetes."
Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, says consumption of super-caffeinated energy drinks, especially among teens and young adults, is skyrocketing. "These are empty calories with no health benefits."
The new findings are from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is considered the gold standard for evaluating food and beverage habits because the data come from in-person interviews about dietary habits. The results are from more than 17,000 interviews conducted from 2005 to 2008.
The drinks with added sugar in the analysis included sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks, fruit drinks and sweetened bottled waters. Not included: diet drinks, coffee, 100% fruit juice, sweetened teas and flavored milks.
The heart association advises people to consume no more than 36 ounces or about 450 calories from sugary beverages a week. "It's better if you can avoid them altogether and instead consume water, fat-free or 1% fat milk, 100% fruit juice and low-sodium vegetable juices," Johnson says.
Christopher Gindlesperger, director of communications for the American Beverage Association, points out that another recent government study shows sugar-sweetened beverages are playing a declining role in the American diet, even as obesity is increasing.
"People are drinking fewer full-calorie, sugar-sweetened beverages due to industry innovation in bringing no- and low-calorie beverages to the market," he says.
1. Rachel Johnson says that sugar-sweetened beverages are the number one single source of calories in the American diet. As the article points out, American teenagers are being most affected by this. This is probably because beverages like soda and energy drinks are readily available in schools. What do you think about sugary, fattening drinks being allowed in schools? Whose job should it be to ensure that America's youth are eating properly and healthily? The school? The parents? The government? What are you general opinions on sodas and energy drinks being sold in schools?
ReplyDelete2. Why do you think Americans in general are so dependent on sugar-laden drinks like soda and energy drinks? Do you think that cutting out sodas from one's diet really makes that much of a difference? Do you think beverage companies are to blame for putting addictive substances like caffeine in their beverages or should the blame be placed on the consumer? Why do you think articles like this are even necessary? Are people really shocked to find out that soda is bad for them?
1. I think a lot people make their food decisions based on convenience, so I think that their availability should be limited in schools. I do not believe that we should limit the freedom of choice or options, but I think that having vending machines in school hallways is promoting and advertising unhealthier choices; many of the soda companies spend millions of dollars on advertising and marketing to make their products appealing. So, I think that the government could take a role in food education by making the unhealthier options available, but maybe only at lunch and not in the hallways. This would provide a more equal playing field for drinks the cafeteria provides.
ReplyDelete2. If something taste good, then there will always be someone that is going to eat or drink it, regardless of the nutritional value; I think the same principal can be applied to soda and energy drinks. I think their popularity could also be that simple, that people just like the taste of a soda better than a bottle of water and choose to drink it for that reason. I think that if a person really does want to not drink soft drinks anymore, than they have the choice to stop drinking them. While additives like caffeine make not drinking these types of drinks more difficult, they do not make it impossible. Soda companies do have a lot of power over there consumers with caffeine, so I would say the best defense to them is to just become educated about what you are consuming.
1. It is not the responsibility of the government to regulate what American teenagers drink, but rather that of the parents and, of course, the teenagers themselves. Schools introduce vending machines like those from Coca-Cola because they often receive a good price when they restock with the company's products and so are, in my opinion, playing a large role in the over-consumption of sugary drinks simply by making them available. There is no reason why Americans should not be able to go back to drinking water, tea, and 100% fruit juice, all of which were available before the invasion of the bottled, sweetened drink.
ReplyDelete2. Americans are dependent on soda and bottled drinks purely out of choice. Whether that choice is made because of desire, convenience, or some other reason, people always have the power to change what they drink. Americans have access to some of the most widespread clean drinking water in the world. I do think that drinking bottled, artificially sweetened beverages plays a large role in a net unhealthy diet and is contributing to diabetes nationwide. As for articles like these, people who are informed enough to read them probably already control their drinking habits or are, at least, aware of the consequences. Someone who is really dependent on sweetened drinks and sodas will most likely not change his habits because of an article (though some people no doubt do) because the realization of how bad soda is remains difficult to grasp on paper for many people.
I stopped drinking anything but water a week or so ago, and I've already lot a great deal of weight. I didn't even drink Cokes that often, only about once every two weeks. I would drink lots of juices. If the sugar from juices was making me gain weight, then it's no wonder people who drink soft drinks all the time are gaining weight. One of my students drinks nothing but soft drinks. He always comes to class and says he has a headache. I tell him to go get some water and once he drinks it, he feels better. The soft drinks are dehydrating him. I told him what was causing his headaches, and he looked at me like I was crazy, until he had a drink of water. Hope he doesn't get kidney stones later on in life.
ReplyDeleteI think that schools do have some responsibility to regulate what they are selling in vending machines. In my junior year of high school, my school took out all of the soft drink vending machines. While this was a step in the right direction, there were still a lot of unhealthy drink options that were still present. We had a couple of Frutopia machines and a lot of vending machines that had candy bars and honey buns and other unhealthy choices. I think that it's good that schools are trying to help out, but this really needs to be a more widespread process. All vending machines with unhealth foods should be removed, because as long as some of them are present, kids can get the unhealthy sugary food that they crave. I think it might be next to impossible to stop kids from wanting this sugary food, but if it's harder to get then more kids will turn to healthier food.
ReplyDeleteSchools should share some burden of responsibility, but in the form of education rather than limiting availability. Students should be taught in schools that soda is unhealthy, and should be aware of the health ramifications associated with frequent consumption. This being said, it seems hypocritical to preach health and nutrition and then line the halls of schools with vending machines offering the items students have learned are so detrimental to their health. In this sense, schools should make the choice of offering those drinks or not. In many schools, parents have a say as well, and this goes back to education. If parents do not want their children consuming such items, pushes can be made to remove them from the school. In addition to this, education can get the drinks out of homes, which is where many students are forming their preferences. It is interesting that flavored milk was not counted as a sugary drink as that is currently a point of some contention among those attempting to change to form of school-provided lunches. Companies offering the products in question should be responsible for informing the consumer about health risks of drinking soda of sugary juices frequently, particularly those marketed at young children. Parents need to be made aware. Sugary drinks are so popular because they give you a rush of energy and make you feel good for a little while. Once you begin to experience a sugar crash, however, more sugar is needed to maintain the same level of energy. As someone who only consumes soda during late nights at the art school, I know that I feel much better not drinking it. I do not think many people realize how bad soda is for you. Many parents will make sure their children are eating their vegetables, and then hand them a Coke to drink at dinner.
ReplyDelete1. I agree with some of what Hannah said. I generally cringe at the idea of our freedom of choice being limited. In my opinion, it's up to the consumer and the parents. I think it's all about the way a kid grows up: If his parents always have soft drinks around the house, he will probably drink them regularly for the rest of his life. My parents only occasionally offered us soft drinks, so I really only consume them once every 3-4 weeks. That being said, schools do have the power (and the responsibility) to educate their students about the detrimental effects of soft drinks in health classes.
ReplyDelete2. I think it has a lot to do with food culture. Unfortunately, the U.S. does not really have an established food culture as other countries. I might say that our food culture is a culture of convenience -- as evidenced by the popularity of fast food and soft drinks. I think that cutting out these sugary beverages definitely makes a difference. You can't argue against the numbers. And I don't think we can place the blame on companies that put addictive substances in these drinks. We as consumers have asked for this and allowed this. By continuing to buy them, we are saying to the producers, "Yes, keep producing, we will keep buying!" Finally, articles like this are helpful because they reveal the specific ways in which food can hurt you. I had a general idea that soft drinks were bad for me, but I didn't know exactly how bad.