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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2015
J OEL F UHRMAN , MD
The effects of soda on children’s behavior
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The standard American diet,
chock full of soda and other
sugary drinks, fast foods, and
other low-nutrient foods, can
have a major impact on the
health and lives of our children.
Rising rates of childhood
obesity driven by this way of
eating have received much
attention; however, low-nutri-
ent foods are still having nega-
tive effects on the physical and
mental health of children who
are not overweight.
Children are not immune to
the damaging health effects of
the standard American diet,
which can set them up for a
lifetime of poor health ranging
from heart disease to behavior
problems and lower cognitive
performance.
On average, U.S. children
and teens consume over 200
calories a day from soda and
other sugary drinks, and it is
estimated that about 14 percent
of their calories come from fast
food. As a result of the poor
diets of American children,
more than one-third of normal-
weight teenagers (and about
half of overweight teenagers)
have at least one diet-related
risk factor for heart disease.
These dietary patterns have
the potential to dramatically
affect not only public health but
the productivity of our future
adult population; studies have
implicated poor diet in limiting
intelligence and academic per-
formance, and also has drawn
parallels between consumption
of sweets during childhood and
violence in adulthood.
A study on soda consump-
tion found an increase in
behavior and attention prob-
lems in five-year-old children
(as assessed by their mothers)
with increasing daily consump-
tion of soda.
Forty-three percent of the
five-year-olds in the study
drank soda at least once a day.
The authors adjusted their
results for potential confound-
ing factors that might affect
behavior, such as hours of tele-
vision and a stressful home
environment, and still found a
significant association between
soda consumption and aggres-
sion, withdrawn behavior and
poor attention.
They proposed that caffeine
and/or fluctuations in blood
sugar might be responsible for
the association between soda
and behavior problems. Blood
glucose levels do affect the
workings of the brain, and
habitual high sugar intake has
been shown to impair cognitive
function.
Several previous studies on
high school students have also
associated soda consumption
with aggressive behavior, as
well as depression and self-
harm. Plus, higher sugar sweet-
ened beverage consumption is
linked to diabetes, cardiovascu-
lar disease, and cancers.
In addition to soda, higher
fast food consumption in fifth
grade (four or more times per
week) has been associated with
poorer academic progress in
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math, reading and science
between fifth grade and eighth
grade. Children who ate fast
food one to three times per
week-a common level of
intake-compared to those who
ate no fast food had lower
scores in math. These results
suggest that children eating fast
food frequently could slow
their academic progress.
The food habits children
develop in their early years
have a substantial impact on
their physical health and men-
tal well-being throughout the
rest of our lives.
Parents need to know this
information, so that they can
help their children to live
healthfully, maintain a positive
mindset and reach their full
cognitive potential.
Dr. Fuhrman is a New York
Times best-selling author and
board certified family physi-
cian specializing in lifestyle
and nutritional medicine.
Visit his website at Dr
Fuhrman.com, or submit ques-
tions and comments to news
questions@drfuhrman.com.
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