How many times during the week do you find yourself craving and reaching for a soda or energy drink? If you are like the majority of Americans, the number of sugar sweetened beverages that you consume in a week is far too high. I have to admit that even as a nutrition major, I find myself grabbing a soda here and there at the grocery store simply because it tastes good and I love the fizz it gives off. However, this is an extremely bad habit to have as it has been linked to obesity. This is an even bigger problem for middle aged school children, because it seems like more and more the advertisement companies are targeting them specifically. As children, they may not be as aware of the amount of sugars in different beverages and therefore are more susceptible to drink them. With childhood obesity a growing problem, this needs to stop, and quick!
A recent journal from the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior highlights on this exact issue. The purpose of the study conducted was to find out if education of sugar sweetened beverages was in fact needed in middle aged school children and if education of them would decrease the consumption. The results of the study were great, and showed that education of these types of beverages did lower the consumption among the target population. This is a wonderful finding, because it shows that with education, we as nutrition educators can change the behavior of the target population. Although this is only one piece in the puzzle when it comes to reasons for childhood obesity, it is a great place to start and certainly a big problem to conquer.
While teaching the target population, a nutrition educator could show the children how much sugars are in their favorite beverages. I am sure that as nutrition majors, we have all seen a similar poster with the sugar contents of different drinks. We realize how bad these drinks are and try our best to avoid them. However, many middle aged school children have not been exposed to these types of examples. As the journal states, if we get this message out to the children and show them how much sugars are in these drinks, it is likely to change their behaviors. As alternatives, the nutrition educator can give children ideas to replace the sugary drinks. These could include things like water and fruit infused water. As the study states, the problem with sugar sweetened beverages in middle aged school children is highest during the summer. For this reason, I believe that it would be most effective to teach the target population a lesson on the topic mid spring, before the problem time occurs. That way, when summer beings they will already have alternatives in their brains and might think twice when the go to reach for a soda.
This is an issue that I am very passionate about and something I believe needs to be addressed as a more serious issue. Currently, there are laws in the process of being passed that would tax sellers of these beverages if they try to target middle aged school children. I believe that this is a great start, but that it won’t make the problem go away. We need to do our part to get out there and teach children why it is so bad. So the next time you go to reach for a soda or an energy drink, think about not only the high sugar content of the beverage, but the example you are setting for the children in your life.