Soft Drinks: Liquid Candy for Kids

Foods like chocolate and potato chips are considered the obvious culprits for overweight kids. There are other villains, though, that you may not have considered - like soda and other sweetened beverages.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) calls it "liquid candy." There's good reason. Regular soda and other sweetened drinks are usually a source of empty calories - a decent dose of sugar with no nutrients.

A major problem is that soda replaces more nutritious beverages, like milk and juice. Soda also adds unnecessary calories and contributes to tooth decay.

Teen boys who drink carbonated or noncarbonated soft drinks consume about three 12-ounce cans a day and girls more than two cans, according to a report from CSPI. Teens who drink soft drinks get nearly 15 percent of their total calories from those drinks. This adds up to an additional 200 to 400 calories a day.

Obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in teens since the 1970s. Many kids are not getting enough calcium, fiber and vitamins, and their diets are lacking fruits and vegetables.

While soda and other nutrient-empty drinks play a part in childhood obesity, they're not the only factors. Lack of exercise, poor food choices, too many calories and fat also play roles.

Children and teens often have easy access to soft drinks through vending machines and school cafeterias. Often, children and teens are not educated about potential health problems or what to consider a healthy food choice.

A report in the journal Pediatrics showed that removing sugar-sweetened beverages from the homes of overweight teens helped them drop about a pound a month.

When these beverages were replaced with drinks without calories, teens were able to cut down their consumption of high-calorie drinks by more than 80 percent.

To help deal with the problem, the American Beverage Association issued guidelines in 2005 for drinks sold in vending machines at schools:

• Elementary schools: Only water or 100 percent fruit juice.
• Middle school: Only nutritious and/or lower-calorie beverages, such as bottled water, 100 percent fruit juice, sports drinks, no-calorie soft drinks and low-calorie juice drinks. No full-calorie soft drinks or full-calorie juice drinks are to be sold until after school.
• High schools: A variety of beverages, such as bottled water, 100 percent juice, sports drinks and juice drinks. No more than 50 percent are to be full-calorie soft drinks.

Unfortunately, these are just guidelines, meaning that schools and the companies that own the vending machines do not have to follow them.

Ways to help your child avoid sugary drinks:

• Talk to him about the food and beverage choices he makes at his school and at home. Tell him why these can be bad for his health. An occasional treat is fine, but it shouldn't be a constant habit.
• Don't keep sugary drinks in the house. Encourage low-fat milk or water instead.
• Encourage her to exercise more by inviting her for walks or a bike ride on a Saturday.

Related Articles Is the Food at Your Child's School Healthy? Stopping Kids from Overeating School Lunches Take Class in Nutrition Getting Kids to Drink their Milk Keeping Kids' Snacks Healthy Kid Fit: Helping Kids Win at Fitness

External Sources Ebbeling CB, Feldman HA, Osganian SK, Chomitz VR, Ellenbogen S, Ludwig, D. Effects of decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on body weight in adolescents: a randomized controlled pilot study. Pediatrics 2006;3:117. The Center for Science in the Public Interest American Beverage Association

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.

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