You are right! soft drinks contain too much sugar and are bad for health

Obesity has already reached epidemic dimensions, and According to the World Health Organization, when it occurs during childhood, it is associated with a higher probability of non-communicable diseases, maintenance of a high BMI (overweight also in adulthood) and even premature death. Data from 2013 (the trend is only increasing), indicated that more than 42 million girls and boys were overweight, a disease that decades ago was associated with abundance, and now to economic and social precariousness.

The best way to avoid this problem is to avoid the imbalance between caloric intake and expenditure: carry out physical activity daily, and avoid hypercaloric foods. To help you understand who the culprits are, I will point directly to a sedentary lifestyle, as well as excess salt, fat, and sugar. I believe that the responsibility for our own health lies with us, even when it comes to denouncing abusive practices in the food industry (gifts in junk food establishments, advertisements for sugary soft drinks that present a vital world flooded with joy,…). And speaking of soft drinks:

Nobody forces us to eat / drink one or the other food, and the family has a huge responsibility for the health of children, but let's not fool ourselves: When a company spends a lot of money on advertising a specific product, it does so to create “need” and because the tactic works. In addition to delving more fully into the subject of sugar in soft drinks, I would like to draw attention to a document that a multinational has published.

Soft drinks with sugar: they have it but are they the only ones responsible?

As we can read: "... all calories count in weight management ... We understand that many people need to reduce their total calorie intake ... so there is no single food or drink responsible for obesity"

Well, it is not that they have “discovered the Americas” for us, we already knew that; but the point is that many consumers know this information, and That is why we are committed to a more balanced diet, with less presence of refined sugars, and more fiber.. We also know that the best foods for health are those that do not need advertising, and are also those that do not carry a label indicating their composition. So far so good.

That people spend fewer calories (and perhaps if we dedicated a little of each day to "just walking", things would change) is also common knowledge. What happens is that (without personalizing) stories are too easily told through the various communication channels that today (mis) inform us, where people are super happy drinking soda; and I think it is my obligation to deny such an idea.

You are right! Sodas have too much sugar.

I also read in the aforementioned document that "soft drinks account for between 2,1 and 2,6 percent of the total caloric intake (according to sex and age)". Other foods that equal or exceed that percentage are also indicated, for example pastries, sausages or cereals.

I don't believe that sodas add such a small caloric load. According to this post that I found in The general nutritionist, "Sugary drinks are both the main source of sugar in the American diet and the main source of calories". Which does not surprise me because a can has the equivalent of 9 teaspoons; in fact in this entry of ours there is a table In which it looks like a can of cola, it beats breakfast cereals, and even 2 muffins.

Do not distort reality, please. And if they do, we don't believe it, because health is important, and if it belongs to our children, even more so. Sometimes they try to equate some things with others, and we must know that fruit or whole grains, regardless of calories, are of better quality nutritionally speaking, as they contain a lot of fiber.

Responsible consumption and other measures.

The video that you can see after this paragraph corresponds to an initiative in Mexico aimed at increasing taxes on soft drinks, in order to discourage consumption: obesity rates are skyrocketing there. In addition to that Central American country, in England the pressure of chef Jamie Oliver, got the Parliament's Health Commission to draft a recommendation to introduce a 20 percent tax on foods and beverages with a lot of sugar.

In addition to the responsible consumption that citizens must have, the authorities can do a lot for us and for our children. For example, a warning labeling (in the style of tobacco packs) is also proposed, o significantly reduce the amount of sugar in soda cans. The production companies will tell us that there are already forms of sugar-free beverages (with other sweeteners, and I reserve my opinion here for the moment), but the fact is that there are consumers who are looking for the taste of this natural sweetener.

I once again insist on nutritional balance, and on establishing good eating habits from the time children are small, so that they can make decisions for their health, and not for the fashions or the "pocket" of the owner of such or such. which company. What to see: a soda if you go to a birthday well man! It doesn't do much harm. Another thing is to turn its consumption into a habit, and even worse to be one of those mothers or fathers who say "well, I have taken 'put the name you want all my life, and I'm not sick or fat". Excuse me, but I don't like to play irresponsible, sugar is also linked to diabetes; there are diseases that do not become visible quickly, and it is therefore very important to have reliable information about the risks.

To drink water daily, neither juices (that we already talked about them here): nothing happens to do it, it refreshes, hydrates, it does not take away hunger, it is a pleasure to drink it, ... it has so many advantages that I do not understand how we have "detached" so much from that liquid that we feel great.

Image - (Last) Parker knight