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Home › Articles › Health › Putting a Stop to Soda Pop

Putting a Stop to Soda Pop

Why Too Much Is Hurting Your Kids

By Kelly Burgess

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Sothern says parents shouldn't ban soft drinks entirely from their children's lives because then they become the holy grail, but she does believe that pop does not belong in schools. Soda should be an occasional treat. Parents should primarily offer their children water and milk. Other choices that would be preferable to sodas are flavored milks, flavored waters and juices that have a high proportion of juice rather than sugar. However, these liquids should not take the place of a primary fluid intake of water and milk.

"If you have a car full of kids you're taking home after a soccer game and it's traditional to stop at a convenience store for a soda, don't make your child stand out by forbidding it," says Sothern. "Rather, buy him a small drink and think of it as a treat. Better yet, encourage him to be a leader and make good choices. His friends may just follow him."

Diet pop isn't off the hook either. As Sothern and Bark both point out, no one knows the long-term effects of either the chemicals or the artificial sweeteners. In addition, diet soda has absolutely no nutritional value. If it has caffeine, it doesn't even have hydrating value because the caffeine cancels that out.

The bottom line is that soda should be a treat. Give kids healthy drink choices at home and in school, and then encourage them to make healthy choices when they're out in the world – without being an alarmist or a nag. Parents can't eliminate kids' bad choices altogether, but they can try to minimize the damage done. Their growing bodies will thank us later.


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