Diet-Nutrition, Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity

Soft drinks reportedly not a cause of obesity in children

The article abstract is jargon-riddled, but an article in BeverageDaily.com “translates” the results into English.

First, the details.

  • 1,294 children between 7 to 18 years of age were surveyed.
  • The focus was on sugar and soft drink intake.

And, the results.

  • Children with a higher body mass index (BMI) consumed about 300 calories a day more than children with lower body weight.
  • But, only 5% of the excess calories, equivalent to 14 calories, were the result of soft drink consumption.
  • Children with higher BMI also had a higher calorie intake, which was related to ingesting fat and proteins, while soft drink intake occurred at similar levels to those in lighter children.

The bottom line?
The authors conclude, it’s not soft drinks that make our kids fat. Maybe it’s just overeating and physical inactivity.

Not sure how this jives with an earlier report where soft drinks were associated with development of the metabolic syndrome — a symptom of which is obesity.

9/17/07 20:08 JR