New research suggests that water, in place of soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks, will help maintain healthy weights in your kids, Reuters reported on Monday.
Children and teens in the United States consume an average of 235 “empty” calories in sugar-sweetened beverages daily, according to one analysis.
Just because a child eliminates these drinks does not mean they will replace the calories with eating or drinking other things. Most of the children, the researchers reported, responded in this way. A second Dutch study found that children would quit consuming sugary drinks before they exercise or eliminate snacks.
Dr. Claire Wang of Columbia University in New York confirmed, “The evidence is now clear that replacing these ‘liquid calories’ with calorie-free beverage alternatives both at home and in schools represents a key strategy to eliminate excess calories and prevent childhood obesity.”
Wang and her colleagues reviewed data from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that detailed questions about diet.
They found that every 1 percent drop in soft drink ingestion compared to more than six fewer calories.
It is possible, according to two other investigations, to see children make the change.
A research team at the University of Southern California, facilitated by Emily Ventura, successfully influenced 54 overweight Latino teens to participate in a four-month study to improve their diets.
Results indicated that one-third of the participants did nothing, one-third took one nutrition class per week and one-third took part in the class as well as strength training twice a week.
Fifty-five percent reduced their sugar intake by 47 grams a day, which equals one can of soda. Also, 59 percent ingested more fiber, up to five grams a day.
This consisted of even the “control” teens that did not do anything additionally, Ventura’s team stated in the journal.
Not only did the researchers witness healthier blood sugar levels in the children who ate less sugar, but also losses on average of 10 percent of visceral body fat in those who ate more fiber. This is the dangerous type of fat surrounding the internal organs.
Ventura’s team wrote, “Our results suggest that intensive interventions may not be necessary to achieve modifications in sugar and fiber intake.”
In another research program conducted in the Netherlands, 1,108 children of ages 12 and 13 were tested under the direction of Amika Singh and colleagues of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam.
The participants engaged in an eight-month health education program involving 11 lessons in studies of biology and physical education. The children reportedly cut soft drink intake by an average of 10 ounces a day for nearly a year afterward as a result of the study.
Unfortunately, however, the children did not indicate an increase in walking or biking to school nor did they snack less often.
Based on Singh and research team’s findings, they concluded that, “Reducing intake of sugar-containing beverages should therefore be considered a good behavioral target for future interventions aimed at the prevention of overweight among adolescents.”
—
On the Net:
Comments