All around America teenagers are consuming more sugar than usual. The cause of this is the consumption of soft drinks being sold and provided in their schools. Many public schools are providing them with innutritious drinks, which is a bad choice. Some students prefer to drink two or more bottles of soda instead of water. Should we blame the student for making unhealthy choices or the school for providing them? Although many teenagers consume soft drinks, we should ban the from high schools because they are unhealthy, contain lots of sugar, and is the number one leading cause of obesity in America.
According to the article “Ban on soft drinks in schools” by Lisa Cox; ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher talks about bringing forward a five-year phase-out of sugary drinks in territory schools. She wants to decrease the rate of obesity in children. In Australia, the percentage of Australians who were overweight or obese had reached to sixty-three percent. The rate of children also increased to twenty-five percent. Gallagher wants to launch a healthy food program for schools in order to help them make more healthy choices. ''The ACT government has a clear plan to reduce the amount of people who are overweight and obese and a key way to achieve that is to reduce the availability of sugary drinks to children.'' They want to ban drinks so they could build a plan to develop a larger ACT government school food and drink policy with certain guidelines. All this will take a lot of time and work. The government announced a $2.2 million in grants for health programs to help fight obesity. Therefore, the ACT Medicare Local will receive funding to run a program for children aged from three to seven who are at risk of obesity.
In Los Angeles County the school officials have voted to phase out the sale of soft drinks and soda to its students. The school board said that campuses need the money they make from drinks. "I find it appalling that we are discussing economics at the risk of our children's health," said board member Marlene Canter, who sponsored the measure. Schools should not rely on the students to subsidize their own educations. In the past 20 years, the percentage of American adolescents who are overweight has tripled. Critics argue that the school administrators will have trouble paying for certain things. The California Center for Public Health Advocacy estimates 30 percent of children area at risk of being overweight in California. In addition, students who take in large amount of sugar can have trouble concentrating in class.
Many of us do not know why soft drinks are unhealthy for us. Non-diet drinks contain high amounts of sugar, which add calories to our daily diet. It contributes to a higher risk of developing diabetes. In the drinks there are many sweeteners and caramel coloring added. Every time you drink a soda, you get thirstier and the body does not get full. We can also be at a higher risk of heart disease, which can cause any one to have a heart attack or stroke. After a while, consuming too much sugar can contribute to tooth decay because acid is produced when bacteria enters the mouth. Apparently, it could build up plaque on the teeth and gums. Overall, we should limit the intake of processed sugary drinks that are not nutritious for our body.
When we are drinking a soda we never realize how much sugar we are processing in our body. It has a negative impact on the overall health. If our diet includes lots of high-sugar foods, it results in our body not getting the vitamins and minerals needed. Drinking a lot of sugar will eventually lead to weight gain. Some of us do not know it can cause an increase of being in risk of cardiovascular problems. Women should not take in more than 6 teaspoons of sugar each day and men should not have more than 9 teaspoons. Furthermore, there are other alternatives of healthier drinks we can drink.
On the other hand, others believe banning soft drinks is not a good idea. In the article, “Banning Sugared Drinks in Schools Doesn’t Lower Student Consumption,” states that it will not lower their overall intake. “An average teen consumes about 300 hundred calories per day in sweetened beverages, and the food and beverage industry is only too happy feed this need.” Cutting consumption may require more rigorous enforcement of no-sugary drinks policies in schools. In the study, about twenty percent of students said they purchased sodas or sport drinks, even at schools were only other beverages were sold. There is an amount of variation in how schools are defining sugar-sweetened beverages. Students have many ways of getting sugared drinks outside of the school. Many schools rely on the revenue provided by the vending machines that sell sugar-sweetened drinks, so administrators may not be so eager to remove them. It is impossible to make the drastic changes that might be needed.
In New York, the banning of large sugary drinks might actually cause the consumer to drink more. In a study, the researchers gave 100 participants three different menus to order from and asked to imagine what they would buy at a fast food restaurant. The first option had drink sizes ranging from 16 to 32 ounces. Then the second menu, ranged from one 16-ounce drink, a package of two 12-ounce drinks and a package of two 16-ounce drinks. The third option only had a 16-ounce soda. They found that the participants offered the bundle tended to order a larger amount of soda.
Soft drinks should be banned from high schools. They have been causing many severe health issues in the past years. The number of children with obesity is increasing daily. All parents want our kids to be healthy and we have the option to make healthier choices. By consuming less sugar daily we can help maintain a better life for future generations.