It’s Not an Obesity Epidemic; it’s a Soda Epidemic

If you are around kids, you will know that sodas are an epidemic. Even though they have been hounded from schools and after-school lunch programs (Reuters story here). Why do parents still buy them for their kids?

This is all the more bizarre when the kids’ parents are overweight or are developing type 2 diabetes or have high cholesterol and they consume drugs like Lipitor rather than exercise or modify their sugar intake. This is why some doctors and legislators favor regulation and increased taxation on sodas (LA Times story here). Why? Because they think people are lazy and weak-minded and how can you argue with that? Still, federal legislation is stalled right now, going nowhere.

The only effective solution really is for parents to make a formal decision to stop buying sodas and have the kids go cold turkey. That means energy drinks, Gatorade, everything. It doesn’t mean you can’t reward the kids occasionally.

OK, so what can the kids drink at other times? Without sounding like Marie Antoinette, I think more water would be a good start. Remember water? School lunch programs still have milk (and chocolate milk) and juices. With patience and persistence, most kids can be wooed from high-sugar drinks to flavored teas and milk and fruit juices with less sugar or artificially flavored contents.

Opponents argue that this hurts low-income people and that it's “the overconsumption of calories, whether from soda or other foods and drinks, that lead people to put on extra pounds (and) soda is not a unique cause of obesity.” I agree with both sides but I see no contradiction here either.