How Does Sugar Sweetened Drinks Affect Children

Childhood is a social construct that has been weaved together by societal norms and domineering perspectives. Childhood is not a physical or mental state but an abstraction that has been melded by society as time has progressed. In Karen Sanchez-Eppler’s excerpt titled “Childhood” from the novel Keywords for Children’s Literature, she explains how the attitudes and atmosphere surrounding childhood have vastly changed throughout history to yield the general, modern conception of childhood. Children have been deemed adults in the Middle Ages and childhood has been a vaguely regarded concept. However, as society has become more progressive and developed, an interest in distinguishing the young from the older individuals

The word development refers not to the physical growth of children and young people, but to the skills and knowledge that they are developing. When looking at child development it is divided into the following areas –

The social position of children over time has greatly changed, this evident through the work Philippe Aries. During the Middle Ages (10th-13th Century) Aries (1960) argued that ‘the idea of childhood did not exist.’ He used works of art as evidence to show that children of that time appeared without ‘any of the characteristics of childhood; they have simply been depicted on a smaller scale.’ Children were in effect ‘mini-adults’ with the same rights, duties and skills as adults. They even dressed the same and carried out the same work.

A single can of soda can have at least ten teaspoons of sugar, that is already the daily maximum recommended intake. Sugar can increase cholesterol levels, heart disease, diabetes and weight gain.Moreover. The obesity is a colossal problem in America. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 35.9% of U.S. adults over the age of twenty are obese (CDC, 2013). The CDC also notes that 69.2% of U.S. adults twenty years of age and over are overweight. The obesity problem does not only affect adults in the U.S. The CDC notes that 18.4% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 are currently obese (CDC, 2013). These numbers show the harshness of the obesity problem in this

164). In fact, a lot of other factors were considered in the rise of obesity,such as age group, education, water-consumption, and more. Although added sugars are a huge part of obesity, researchers have been able to link many other factors to the rise of obesity and as such, added sugars may not be the only factor in reducing obesity for every person.Like obesity, added sugars have a direct link to the increased development of diabetes. The increase of added sugars within chosen society trends, have escalated the prevalence of diabetes within the United States. Researchers believe that, “sugar-sweetened beverages are the primary source of added sugars in the U.S. diet” (Malik, Popkin, Bray, Després, Willett, & Hu, 2010, pg. 2477). In addition to added sugars within sugar-sweetened beverages, any item containing added sugars can lead to an increased risk of developing diabetes.However, “while experimental and observational studies suggest that sugar intake is associated with the development of type 2 diabetes, independent of its role in obesity, it is unclear whether alterations in sugar intake can account for differences in diabetes prevalence among overall populations” (Basu, Yoffe, Hills, & Lustig, 2013, pg. 1). While diabetes does have a direct link tothe increase in added sugars, other factors such as total calories, obesity, age

Childhood obesity has been increasingly on the rise in the United States. There are many short-term and long-term consequences of obesity, such as increased risk of diabetes type 2, hypertension and hyperlipidemia leading to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancers, and osteoarthritis. There are many contributing factors leading to the increased prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents such as poor nutrition, the increased accessibility of fast-foods and junk foods in vending machines, decreased physical activity, increased use of technology and hours spent in front of the television, and the increased consumption of soda beverages. Although all of these are contributing factors leading to obesity in children and adolescents, it has become apparent that as the consumption of sugar-sweetened have increased, the average number of overweight and obese children have been negatively impacted nationwide. It has been found that soda beverage consumption is a leading cause of childhood obesity epidemic. It is important as clinicians to identify

There are a number of evidence and observations to support the hypothesis that sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB), defined as soft drinks, colas, other sweetened carbonated beverage and fruit drinks with added sugar, may play an important role in obesity risk and development (Te Morenga et al., 2013). Indeed, SSBs represent the leading source of free sugars1 in the diet and their effects have been specifically linked to the contribution towards the development of chronic metabolic conditions, including type 2 diabetes and other comorbidities (Malik et al., 2006). However, obesity is not the only condition associated with the SSBs consumption. SSBs intake has been shown to significantly increase the levels of dental caries for instance, in a study of over 6000 14-year-old students in North Western England (Jones et al., 1999). Therefore, the link between obesity, dental

With the increase in the number of the diseases and awareness regarding the health care system, Sugar tax is the simple remedy which will not only reduce the sales of the drinks but also lower the kilojoule intake leading to reduction in the body weight and ultimately improvement in the heath. The sugar-sweetened beverages are less healthy than other sources of added sugars and calories and are more likely to contribute to obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay than other foods. According to the recent research diet soda and artificial sweeteners contained in diet soda may adversely affect glucose levels and may increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome and diabetes, in part, through impairment of glucose and increase in waist circumference.

Childhood is not a biological state, unlike infancy (Postman) it is a construction placed upon a group of humans by society (James and Prout). Differing societies have different views of what a child is and should be. The ideas surrounding children and childhood not only differ within different societies there are also historical differences in the constructs of children (Postman) as if we look throughout history it is suggested that children are a modern day construct (Postman). Aries (1962) suggests that even as early as the late seventeeth century, when

Childhood obesity is one of America's greatest problems. Childhood obesity can be devastating in the future of many. Having sugary drinks would cause somewhat of childhood obesity. Pupils do not need to be drinking as many sugary drinks as they do. Our school needs to put a foot down and say, “Everyone can drink unhealthy drinks in their time, but on my time everyone is drinking healthy.” We do not need to be drinking so much sugary drinks, because all the sugar builds up and up and later down in life we will regret it, maybe not so much now but we will. Milk, water, fruit juices, and vitamin water is so much more healthier. They also taste wonderful to!

To begin, soda or other high sugar drinks have been called a staple of the American Diet for years. In fact if given the choice between soda and water most would choose the soda. Although it is the main beverage in a lot of american’s diet, it is most likely doing more harm to the health than good, and some of those drinking it may not even know it. Soda consumption is directly linked to the rising rates of many different health problems (Gale Student Resources 1). Some of these

This view is also supported by Phillips Aries. He claims that children are absent in medieval arts, mentioning “babies are depicted but not children, just smaller adults”. This is because in medieval paintings, children were dressed and presented themselves as adults. An example of a medieval painting is shown in source a . These concepts have influenced the lives of children because they were regarded as miniature adults and confronted with adult responsibilities at a very young age causing children to not experience the carefree and romantic life as a child. However on the other hand, as the society slowly develops into the modern era between the 17th and 18th century, the evolution of the idea on childhood began to develop as lifestyle and adult expectations altered. This is why Philippe Aries (1962) suggests that childhood is a modern invention. The modern realisation of childhood led to the establishment of school by making school legally required to attend, protection of childhood innocence by shielding children from adult aspects and responsibilities and the great separation between classes where the upper class children tend to experience a more cheerful childhood than the working class children. These realisations led to changes in the lives of children where they go into a stage and become trouble free with no worries and living happily for a period of time. Thus, it can be

As a result, one out of every three children is likely to be obese or overweight, and thus their performance in school is adversely affected. This worrying trend is mainly attributed to the lifestyles that majority of the people are adopting such as consuming junk foods that have high-calorie contents, and more specifically among young people that consume excessive amounts of sweetened drinks. The sweetened drinks tremendously increase the carbohydrate or sugar levels to the extent that it becomes harmful to their bodies.

Finally, beverage companies in the US spent roughly $3.2 billion marketing carbonated beverages in 2006, and nearly half billion dollars of that marketing was aimed directly at young people aged 2–17. Each year, the youth sees hundreds of television advertisements for sugar-containing drinks. For example, in 2010, preschoolers viewed an average of 213 ads for sugary drinks, while children and teens watched an average of 277 and 406 such ads, respectively (Chan, 2015). As a result, if schools reduce the number of soft drinks in the vending machine and unhealthy options offered in schools, those children’s and teenagers would become less overweight and obese. Therefore, it

One fundamental cause of obesity is diet. Adolescence is perfect example of this. Students might have breakfast and lunch at schools. The vast majority of students’ lunches often consist of crisps, chocolate bars and soft drinks, which are high energy foods and due to unbalance energy. (Oliver, 2010). According to research, 25% teenagers are already obese. (ibid). To save money or reduce expenses, schools provide unhealthy foods or junk foods. When soft drinks which were coca cola came into the global economy, drinking soft drinks became popular in schools. The data gives a detailed situation. If a student only has one tin of coca he might has 8 tablespoons of sugar and the rest can be done in the same manner one, a month is 240 tablespoons sugar from drinks. (ibid). Frequent, red meat, large meals high in refined grains, sugary drinks, unhealthy fats are typical Western diet. (Harvard School of Public Health, 2014).