The Truth About Soft Drinks: Important Facts You May Not Know

Who doesn’t love a can of soda on a hot day? This black drink is also the preferred accompaniment to cakes, donuts and sandwiches for snacks at home. And lest we forget, doesn’t our cheeseburger and fries feel incomplete without it? Some have taken to drinking soft drinks after each meal or when they are thirsty that could well be water. It’s cheap, delicious and refreshing.

So what’s the problem with that? Why is it receiving so much criticism from health and nutrition authorities?

Perhaps a landmark study in California can give us the answer. In September 2009, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research commissioned a study that directly linked the consumption of soft drinks and sugary drinks to the obesity epidemic facing the state of California.

Drawing data from a 2005 California Health Interview Survey that surveyed more than 43,000 adults and 4,000 adolescents from all California counties, the report titled Fizzy: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California revealed that the 41 percent of children ages 2 to 11, 62 percent of teens ages 12 to 17, and 24 percent of adults drink at least one soft drink or sugary drink every day. The report revealed that people, young or old, who consumed one or more soft drinks per day were 27% more likely to be overweight or obese.

Clearly, the link between soft drinks and obesity in California has been proven in this study. Unfortunately, it is not a problem that is only limited there. Some researchers from such major educational institutions as Harvard and Yale even go so far as to accuse soft drinks, saying that they actually cause obesity. Marilyn Marchione of the Associated Press in a report published in the San Diego Union Tribune on March 5, 2006 reveals that obesity approximately doubled between 1977 and 1997 when “soda consumption increased more than 60 percent.” Another Harvard study involving 51,603 nurses from 1991 to 1995 and from 1995 to 1999 found higher BMIs in those whose soft drink consumption had increased than in those whose consumption had remained the same or decreased significantly. Another federal study conducted between 1999 and 2002 that looked at the dietary patterns of 9,500 American adults also found that those who consumed the most soft drinks were also heavy consumers of fast food. Conversely, those who drank healthier beverages like water and low-fat milk were also more inclined to eat vegetables and less likely to feast on fast food.

As the beverage industry seeks to dispel the link between soft drinks and obesity, studies above and beyond point to an undeniable truth. Soft drinks and obesity are inextricably linked, and it’s an association that doesn’t bode well for our midsection and health.

So that’s the big problem with soft drinks. It puts our life and that of our children in danger. With obesity comes high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and the possibility of early death. Maybe the occasional can doesn’t matter that much, but that doesn’t mean the 120 calories won’t hit our waists. As parents we might think that giving our children a soda once a week is not harmful, but that will not instill healthy eating habits in them. Now that the evidence has shown just how harmful soft drinks are, it’s best to avoid them altogether.