CONSEQUENCIES OF OVER CONSUMPTION OF LIQUID CANDY

The consequences of over consumption of liquid candy is common with kids. Of all the things kids and adults shouldn't be consuming, sugary drinks top the list. Fruit juice may sound healthy, but it's really not much more than pure sugar in the form of fructose, without any of the fiber and other nutrients from whole fruit. (It takes eight to ten oranges to produce one glass of orange juice.) Recently, a number of supposedly healthy milk-based drinks have become popular, but they are crammed with added sugar. The worst of the worst, though, is most carbonated beverages. A typical can of what nutritionalists call

"liquid candy"

is so heavily sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup that it contains the equivalent of up to 10 teaspoons of sugar, to say nothing of the caffeine in many of them, which is associated with headaches, irritability, and sleeplessness. The average teen today gets about 8 percent of his or her daily calories from soda and other sweetened soft drinks; teenage boys are heavy consumers of soda, often drinking three or more cans a day. In connection with one of my recent article Consequences of childhood obesity, there's a direct link between soft drink consumption and weight gain. For every 12-ounce can of soda a youngster drinks each day, the risk of weight gain and becoming obese goes up.
The weight gain from soda is bad enough, but these drinks also displace other, more nutritionous foods. Today, many teens fall short of the recommended intake DRI of one or more of the following nutrients: vitamins A, B, C, E, and the minerals calcium, iron, and zinc. This is especially dangerous, as young bodies in particular need these nutrients in the proper amounts to continue normal growth and development.

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Posted in: Children, Health effects, obesity