According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2004 there were nine (9!) states that had populations consisting of at least 25% obese people. This does not include people who are merely overweight (obesity begins when one's BMI is greater than or equal to 30, and overweight is between 25 and 30). Despite all of the comics lampooning the fact that this has been called a global epidemic, it has the potential to cause numerous deaths, especially in first world countries (and while it's not as frightening as the avian flu, obesity is associated with numerous health problems, including diabetes).
Let's consider this... there are nine regions in the United States where 1 in every 4 people that you meet will, given a normal distribution, be obese! While there are many theories as to why there has been a recent increase in the incidence and prevalence of obesity (and many of these theories are right, but only explain part of the variance in the level of obesity), the one that has been really catching the news lately is the one people with a sweet tooth are loath to hear: soft drinks.
A study reported in Actualites News Environment (French news source) reveals a new study in which an experimental group consumed diet or non-sugared beverages and a control group maintained its normal drinking patterns. After the completion of the study there was a significant decrease in the level of obesity in the experimental group, suggesting the validity of this hypothesis.
Some scholars have even suggesting placing a Surgeon's General Warning on soda, much as has been done with cigarettes. Whether or not you agree with legal regulations being placed on sugared drinks, it is clear that they are at least partially responsible for obesity.
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What solution do you propose other than the warning?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/katherines
It's sad how many people are overweight and obese these days...even children. American's eat way too big portions. I think if children are brought up eating normal (and not normal to Americans because that is huge) sized portions they will grow up and do the same thing. I'm really appreciative that my mom never made huge meals...mostly due to the fact that we were poor, but nevertheless I think I have learned good eating habits. Nowadays everything is super sized and just excessive. I like the lyrics to this song because they're very true:
"Americans, let's face it: We've been a spoiled country for a long time. Do you know what the number one health risk in America is? Obesity. They say we're in the middle of an obesity epidemic. An epidemic like it is polio. Like we'll be telling our grand kids about it one day. The Great Obesity Epidemic of 2004. "How'd you get through it grandpa?" "Oh, it was horrible Johnny, there was cheesecake and pork chops everywhere." Lazy Boy "Underwear Goes Inside the Pants"
And it starts with children. In Texas, 40% of school age children are obese!! And by 2010, 50% of American children are predicted to be obese. The consequence is this will be the first generation of Americans to have a shorter average life span than their parents. In those terms, it is an epidemic. It's killing us, slowly. (But with such high weight nothing moves quickly.)
There was an initiative here in Texas to send your child's BMI home on the child's report card. Parents were not happy! The plan failed and nothing became of the attempted warnings and pleadings with parents to HELP THEIR CHILDREN lose weight. In addition, most parents speaking out were overweight, if not obese, themselves. We can't expect our children to learn good nutrition and healthy eating habits if their parents are just as careless about their weight. I realize that McDonalds is cheaper and easier than cooking a well balanced meal, but is convienence really more important than health?
Your article caught my interest. It's important to note that soft drinks pose many health threats outside of obesity as well; in the United States there has been serious talk about putting a warning label on soda, as mentioned in this CBS article.
"-In 2004, the average American consumed 37 gallons - or 59,000 calories - of carbonated beverages.
-Though more adults are turning to diet drinks, teens are increasing their intake of sweetened soft drinks
-Soft drinks can lead to obesity, diabetes, tooth decay and osteoporosis (bones don't develop as well because soft drinks are in lieu of calcium-rich milk).
-Six of the seven most popular soft drinks have caffeine, which is mildly addictive.
-The health impact of soft drinks is sufficiently detrimental for the FDA to require warning labels on the products."
While looking at these, high fructose corn syrup can be dangerous to your health, as well, and is found much more frequently in today's society.
Along with that, it is known that some sodas contain appetite enhancers, food lubricants, etc. to keep the person drinking the soda eating more food. After all, in America, we have quite a bit of it and make quite a chunk of money on it.
Thought this would be interesting to you.
If you're going to put a label on pop, then you have to put a warning lable on every other product sold for consumption in the United States. You can die of drinking too much water - if pop cans need a warning label, so do water bottles.
We've long known that there are health risks associated with soda - that's just the way things are. Just because CNN gives it a little extra airtime doesn't make it any less or any more of an issue.
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If a society is willing to give freedom for temporary security, they deserve neither.
Water doesn't contain harmful substances. The labels would be warning children and parents of the harmful effects that soft drinks can potentially have on the lifestyle and physical condition/dependency of the consumers.
We've long known the health risks, sure, but I pose the question: Has consumption the rate ever been high enough to make it a concern? Knowing the concerning effects this has on our general public and the amount of people who are beginning to question soda companies, how can the government and FDA handle this in a way that is agreeable by all sides of the argument?
OK, point taken. However, the amount people have consumed of coca cola hasn't changed since the report was released - and this is the first time I've even heard the suggestion of putting labels on soda.
Sure, it contains toxic chemicals - a lot of things do. You breathe in enough of your, err, gaseous release from the undercarriage, and you could die as well. Does that mean I'm going to slap a warning label on myself stating that extended exposure to my body-generated methane can cause death or injury? I think not.
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If a society is willing to give freedom for temporary security, they deserve neither.
I feel that this is a faulty example, but I see what you're trying to communicate. The reason I believe that soft drinks should be singled out for warning labels is because of how excessively they are consumed (just look at the numbers in the article), the amount of calories it adds into our diets, and the adverse effects it can have on the general population if this sort of abuse continues.
How will it affect tomorrow's generations?
Jordan Stovall
IB Junior
www.progressiveu.org/blogs/chasing-bohemia
OK, a lot of people eat fruits too. And bread. Bread has fats in it too, and can cause obesity. Let's slap a label on that. Oh, and not to forget the ever-popular juice - slap a warning label on juice, too, because of it's wide use and therefore powerful ability to cause obesity.
Somewhere, your logic stops ;)
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If a society is willing to give freedom for temporary security, they deserve neither.
Yes, but the fats in juice, fruits, veggis, and even to some extent meats are good for you. In addition, these food sources don't just add empty calories to your diet, they also provide valuable vitamins and such that the body needs.
Think about it this way...A 12-ounce can of cola has 150 calories and the equivalent of almost a ¼ cup of sugar. A 20-ounce cola has 250 calories and the equivalent of 1/3 cup sugar. I don't know about you but that plain grosses me out!
(http://www.foodphilosopher.com/assets/docs/0104topic.cfm)
The question not being asked is whether or not it causes issues - it's whether it deserves a label or not. In my opinion, I think it doesn't. Dangerous things that directly cause problems deserve labels. Things that might contribute to things that might cause problems that might lead to bigger problems don't deserve labels.
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If a society is willing to give freedom for temporary security, they deserve neither.
It seems that America truly isn't alone in our weight struggle. Australia is seeking to create sturdier toilet seats. It seems their toilet seats are created to handle 100 pound people and they are pushing that standard up to 330 pounds.
I don't know how you can make people see the dangers of soda and obesity when they just don't care. Parents need to regulate it or do something. But it's not the responsibility of the companies to put warnings on a normal beverage.
So it's not the responsibility of Marlboro to put labels on their products? The drinks contain mildly addicting substances and can be extremely dangerous for our health in the long run. There's no telling what effects this exagerrated rate of consumption can lead to.
I found that after cutting softdrinks from my diet that I'm healthier. The caffine would give me migraines, and give me sugar highs and lows, not to mention the addiction to Mountain Dew that took me three years to de-tach from. I think its good that people are finially relizing the dangers that sodas can have on people.
I've tried this as well, and have found very similar results. I also noticed that my appetite decreased and I didn't find myself snacking as much throughout the day. Coincidence?
Jordan Stovall
IB Junior
www.progressiveu.org/blogs/chasing-bohemia
No coincidence. I began cutting all carbonated beverages out of my diet in high school (our basketball couch didn't allow it) and I immediately saw results. I wasn't concerned with my weight at the time, but I saw my stamina increase tremendously! To this day, I have kept my less in more approach to sodas. I still drink them, but only 1-2 per week. It's hard at first, but well worth the benefits.
Cutting out soft drinks is huge! I have just recently talked myself into not drinking soda...with my meals. I feel so much better. My skin has cleared up a bunch and I don’t feel a need to have sweets all the time.
But for children it is a lot harder. If I go to any elementary school they have vending machines at almost every site. Media is targeting the youth to get them addicted early...it has to stop.
It's not the media. Schools actually receive millions of dollars in "endorsements" to place soda machines in schools. I don't know if you ever noticed, but many times a school will only carry one brand of soda. That is because the soda manufacturer paid for exclusivity.
But with schools struggling to provide textbooks (I had several that were "in class" books shared throughout the day by different periods of the same class) it doesn't surprise me that they take the money where they can get it.
I don't think they should put a 'warning label' on sodas. There are a lot of foods that, when consumed continually can cause health-problems, but people shouldn't need to be told that; it's common knowledge.
I'll admit it, I'm an addict. However, I'll also admit that I was surprised in that in the short period of time that I actually came off soda (my friend, who is staunchly against the drinking of any carbonated beverages helped me stay off. She thinks they're death in a bottle). I felt like I had more energy, my skin had a healtier glow, and overall I just felt better. The problem with me is.....my high school has soda vending machines...I wouldn't drink so much of it if I didn't have so much access to it. However, those machines are a big money maker for schools, thats why they won't get rid of them.
www.progressiveu.org/blogs/AntigoneHubris
Yea my school sells mostly soda and snapple, which still isn't that great since it has sooo much sugar in it. They just bought a vending machine that has milk and then weird milk things (like Milky Way flavored milk), so I'm glad that at least they're making an effort at selling healthier foods.
I might be going off topic here but I dont think cutting sodas & soft drinks alone will solve the problem of Obesity. I personally think the only way to solve the problem is correcting the human behavior or their digestive clock. I know that controlling behaviors might be hard to do (especially with addicts :) ) but eliminating soft drink...? So then what's next lollipops? french fries? McDonald? It could be like the mistake of prohibition.
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We are holding our own [fill in the blank].
I agree that just cutting off soda won't cure obesity, but right now anything we can try to do to slow down the high rates of obesity should be done. I don't think it will ever be like the prohibition, actually outlawing soda, junk food, etc.
Its true you know. But then what really sux is that what is alwayts served with soft drinks? one always needs something to go with the soft drink. Yes! Pizza! hamburgers! taco bell! I work in the school store at my high school and out of every 25 people in there who buy drinks two of them might be something other than soda. out of the 23 people who buy drinks, 15 of them buy food to go with it. out of the 15 who buy food, 13 of them buy food items consisting of some choclatey goodness or other forms of rot your teeth out candy. Its crazy. But it makes money. Fat sells. I visisted norway over the summer. Do you know how beautiful those people are? their skin is perfect. Their weight is perfect. while i was there i only saw one , yes one fast food place. it was crazy but thast is why they are different from us. we should just change united we stand to we are all so lazy that we sit on the couch together and eat tv dinners. haha.
I do not drink carbonated beverages anymore. With all the health risks involved, and this nation's obesity epidemic, I'd rather stay away from them. I think that putting a warning label on soft-drinks would create awareness, but as Xbot was somewhat saying, where does it stop? What about all the other empty-calorie food consumption? As someone said earlier, it just seems that people do not care anymore about their health. Look at the fast-food business. It's all about the money to these conglomerate corperations.
I think part of the problem is the lack of emphasis by schools. For many adults and children, especially in small towns/less educated areas, the only source of information is from school. Our state doesn't have mandatory physical education or health, and we're one of the fattest states in the nation. Parents view math and reading as important, but not health and fitness partially due to the lack of emphasis by the school. I always stress to my kids that you can't be smart, read, or do math if you die because you're too fat or unhealthy. They get the point, and make wise decisions at age 4 and 7. If they can do it, so can adults and older children.
http://progressiveu.org/blog/leslieq
Check it out...it's a work in progress.