New study confirms American children and teens are consuming significantly less sugary drinks

[OnlinePoker]

Ann Arbor, November 21, 2019 - According to a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, the share of children and adolescents consuming sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and the calories they consume from SSBs declined significantly between 2003 and 2014.

This decline in consumption was found among children and adolescents in all groups studied, including those participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the US federally funded program that provides food assistance to more than 40 million low-income Americans each month -- half of whom are children. However, the study demonstrated that even with the decline, current levels remain too high, with 61 percent of all children and 75.6 percent of SNAP recipients still consuming an SSB on a typical day.

"While the observed declines in children's sugar-sweetened beverage consumption over the past decade are promising, the less favorable trends among children in SNAP suggest the need for more targeted efforts to reduce sugary drink consumption," explained lead investigator J. Wyatt Koma, Independent Researcher, Washington, DC, USA.

https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-11/e-nsc112019.php

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Still not great numbers, but heading in the right direction.

[BigmanPigman]

1. Fruit juice is a sugary substance that people still give too much

of to infants and toddlers along with juice boxes. More of an effort needs to be made to make people aware that these drinks contribute to tooth decay and obesity.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. It's a start.

Nearly thirty years ago I stopped having soft drinks in the house, because my younger son consumed them to the exclusion of almost everything else. At first I was pissed, thinking I shouldn't have to suffer because of him. Over time I got used to it. Now I very rarely ever have a soft drink. When I'm on a long drive I'll have a Sprite or two, maybe a Dr. Pepper if I need a bit of a caffeine boost. Otherwise, it's water or beer or wine. Not necessarily in that order.

I'm old enough (71) that when I was growing up a soft drink was a treat, not an every day thing. It's that switch, from treat to every day, that's so bad. The occasional soft drink is fine. Drinking them daily is not so fine.

[Wounded Bear]

3. Gave up soft drinks years ago...

I certainly don't miss them. Coffee or water for me, though I think I'm gonna have to switch to decaf.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Screw the decaf.

Go for a good gin and tonic.

More seriously, I absolutely don't miss soft drinks. I've occasionally been somewhere at a lunch thing, and for drinks there are cans of soft drinks. They are essentially invisible to me. I look for a bottle of water. Failing that, a cup I can fill with tap water.

What's at least as bad as the sugared soft drinks are the diet ones. The chemicals in the diet drinks leach calcium from bones. Any wonder there's a virtual epidemic of osteoporosis?

[Wounded Bear]

6. Working on 12 years sober, G&T is not an option for me...

Agreed about the diet sodas. In many ways, worse than the regular ones. I was on them for a while. No more.

Tap water here is pretty decent, I keep a filter pitcher in my fridge. I avoid bottled, trash you know.

[Igel]

7. tonic water contains quite a bit of sugar (or corn syrup).

They make it with artificial sweeteners.

[Luciferous]

5. My kid almost always drinks milk or water.