Only Diet Soda

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First of all, Gawain, I'd just like to say that having you post right after me, complete with the "@DR," is extremely weird for me, because you've adopted my former SP avatar. I was the yeti-owner for a good two years. For a second I thought I was talking to myself.

Second, as I said, no soda is really "good for you," even the diet kind. Though they tend to be sugar and calorie free, there's still the carbonation, the chemicals, the artificial sweetner, the sodium...while none of these in small amounts are particularly harmful, they have no nutritional value. So diet soda isn't "good for you," but it's a stretch to say it's bad for you unless you drink it excessively (we're talking 10 or more per day).

Regular soda however, as any dietitian will tell you, is definitely bad for you, and almost thoroughly so. It's essentially liquid candy. Rots your teeth, stains your teeth, spikes your blood sugar...bad. But some people don't care because they like the taste or are sickened by artificial sweeteners. I used to be one, but haven't been for years now. I stick to clear diet sodas almost exclusively now for the above reasons. Otherwise I usually drink bottled water, and in moderation...

 

Just what is the ban on soda going to change if people are still going to keep ordering a hugeass Big Mac with a diet Coke? How exactly fattening a drink can be compared to what kids eat? They need normal food an minimal exercise and they'll be fit.

What a friggin' huge wall of snack and soda vending machines, by the way. Can't people, gasp, not eat for a couple of hours in a row anymore or something?

A normal person who eats as much as he or she needs plus a little extra for pleasure and does no exercise apart from simple recreation and some minimal work to/from the bus stop or car park, will be slim or just a little overweight in the modern standards (meaning like up to 3-5 kilos above flat belly and thin thighs). Some people have different digestion or something, but those with normal organisms, how much do they have to eat or how little to do physically? A soda here or there won't change it. Unless kids have too much money and are willing to buy a couple of cans daily.

 

ATFI wrote:

Well, I have the naive believe that a school should be responsible, even if some parents are not. I even think that the responsability of a school is the more important the more indifferent parents are.

Then I think that marketing people are convincend that proper branding happens best at school. I never ever doubt a good marketing concept. A habit taken on with the age of 10 is still hard to get rid of after reaching maturity and rationality with 25 and a meeting with an dietitan. On the other side, I don't think that a mineral water drinker will do the opposite and become a huge consumer of Coca Cola.

 

As my brother would say:

"The question to ask is do you prefer alzheimer or diabetes?"

 

I can agree with that as well.

 

Obesity in childhood is a case of parents who don't control what their children are ingesting. And, sadly, food that is bad for you is food that is generally cheaper. When you let a child who isn't controlled loose in an environment like school where they can buy soda-they're gonna buy soda. Alleviating the problem by only making diet soda available? How about putting in a machine that vends out some freakin' WATER? Well, that's a moot point-the kid will just go home and drink the soda there. Childhood obesity needs to be solved by insisting that parents start acting like parents and controlling what their children ingest.

See, I'm inclined to think that this problem started when we started having both parents work full time. When we started to have situations where no one was around to cook good, nutritious meals (which can take hours!) and substituted fast food for dinner, then we started to have a problem with childhood obesity. There needs to be someone who stays home to cook, to foster good eating habits, to show that good nutrition is important enough to spend time on.

With that said, I have to go cook dinner...

 

I so disagree with that! A pre-packaged processed item of food is almost always more expensive than its natural alternative. A carrot costs about 10c. An apple costs about 20c. A slice of wholegrain bread costs about 10c. Water is virtually free. No junk food or takeaways or fizzy drinks are as cheap as that.

 

@HB-Where on earth do you live?! (Rhetorical question).
Here in Charlotte, North Carolina, I can give you a prime example-1 apple costs 75 cents (I dunno what that translates to.) 1 candy bar costs 59 cents. AND you have to keep in mind the fact that overly sugary and salty foods are addictive, and they take longer to go bad (... I've just let that sink in, and I feel kinda gross.) So when you give someone an option of a bag of apples for $4 or a bag of chips for $2 when they'll both last the same amount of time, it's hard for people WITHOUT SELF CONTROL to choose the apples. And I'd like to point out that I work at a grocery store, so I'm faced with that decision every time I work-cheap and bad or expensive and good. I can't tell you how many times I've calculated costs in my head.

On a side note, I figured out a great way to buy vegetables and keep them for as long as I need them without worrying about them going bad in a few days - FROZEN! They'll last for a couple of months and bear out HB's point, in that they're cheaper than buying fresh. Frozen veggies are flash frozen at the height of their freshness, so they retain the nutrients. I shill for frozen veggies!

Oh, and yes, water is free. Unless you're like my husband and insist on bottled water.

 

Schools here did that thing few months ago: just 'healthy' food for lunch: vegetables, fruit juice, etc.
But then you see the kids right out of school buying cheetos and all that stuff, and you even see parents buying that thing for them; as Bion said, when the kid is asked to choose you see them wanting 'the one with the Pokemon/insert whatever another cartoon figure in the package', and don't forget those 'special' meals packages for kids at Burger King/McDonnals which are just the same junk an adult eats but just in a big 'cartoonish' box with a toy; and teenagers the same, you see them after schools at bars drinking Coke/beer smoking marihuana just in front of the school (I watch that everyday just outside home).
I just believe that parents these days don't pay as much attention to kids as they did to us long time ago. Besides, there's too much junk to choose from and is cheaper than the few expensive variety of healthy things.
I do the food buying almost everyday and fruits are growing expensive time after time: a bag of 2kg of oranges cost about €4 while an 2lts orange flavoured soda cost about €1.50, and you hardly take 1lt out of the 2kgs of orange.

 

This was exactly what I was saying. Elementary school kids shouldn't have access to soda machines, but by the time you get to high school, I think you should. And what Chev wrote is my point precisely. Drinking a 150 calorie soft drink at lunch isn't what is going to make you obese if you are eating an otherwise healthy diet. If you eat three or four times a week at McDonalds, THAT'S what's going to make you obese. If you're consuming 4000 calories per day instead of the recommended 2000-2200 (depending on your size - you need more calories per day if you're 6'5" like Chev compared to 5'1" like my wife) then cutting out the soda to take it down to 3850 isn't going to make a whole lot of difference.

Right on! Now, I'm certainly not bashing anyone in a family where both parents work, I'm only bashing the thought that after a long day at work you'd rather pick up dinner at McDonalds than cook it yourself. In fact, it's probably not bad if you only do it occassionally even. But I know some people who stop for fast food on the way home from work a couple of times per week. My wife and I both work, but I don't think either of us have ever stopped on the way home to pick up McDonalds or something of the like. One of us cook every night (usually her, although I do cook a couple of times each week). We are going to try and get pregnant this year, and the plan is for my wife to stop working once the baby arrives.

Wow! Produce is MUCH cheaper where you live. I don't particularly like carrots, and since I don't buy them I can't comment on the price of them, but I eat an apple almost every day, and they are definitely considerably more than 20 cents. A pound of apples (around 0.6 Kg) are somewhat variable in their pricing. It depends on the size, whether or not they're in season, and where you live. Generally speaking you're looking at somewhere between $1.60 and $2.00 per pound. A pound of apples is typically about four apples (they're decent sized apples - about the size of a fist - not those small ones) so that works out to around 40 cents to 50 cents per apple. I also like tangerines and pears, and they are similarly priced. About the only produce item that is really inexpensive are bananas. They're only around 40 cents per pound. So a banana probably only costs around a dime.

 

I've been told (uhm, yeah I don't have many personal opinions) by a chemistry teacher that the main problem with sodas at young age is that it destroys your bones. And to prevent that, you have to eat or drink lots of calcium (sp?) and then practice sports to uhm "attach" this calcium to your bones.
Maybe someone here heard about this? Perhaps you can clarify this issue. My point is that fattness comes from physical inactivity and not from a bad diet.
Also, selling such crappy products in school shows how little you care for your next generations, ha-ha.

 

Well New Zealand is pretty much agriculture city so produce and meat is quite cheap here comparied (at least I would imagine). Not to forget it's high quality stuff too.

With the soda issue it seems like they're trying to block a dam with a pebble. Sure it'll have a minute effect but I don't honestly think soda even contributes towards 5% of obesity. I drink soda quite a bit but I'm anything but obese. It's basically sugar-water and most of it passes straight through the body anyway. It's stuff like oils, fat and such that makes people fat.

Have pre-set meals at schools and you should fix the problem. Give the student a chioce between healthy, healthy and more healthy every day. Frankly I'd prefer a healthy meal of chicken, peas, corn, potatoes to a pie and sausage roll any day.

 

Consuming a large amount of soda (and I mean really large) leads to a build up of carbonic acid in your blood. Bone denisty is affected by acidity of your blood. Blood is naturally slightly acidic, but consuming a lot of soda increases the acidity, which has a negative effect on bone density. It's not like if you drink a can a soda a day that you're going to get brittle bones though. You'd have to consume A LOT to have a significant impact on you.

 

The acid in soda is a major contributor to tooth decay--diet or not.

Drinking soda changes the pH level in your mouth temporarily, so sipping on a soda all day long is REALLY bad for your teeth, even if it is a non-sugared soda.

 

Right! What Gawain said. And yeah, sodas pass right through your body, so why drink it? If you're thirsty, drink something else. If you want something tasty, try orange juice, or something. Soda shouldn't be drunk as often as it is. Anti-soda guy, I am.

 

...and leads to obesity when comsumed excessively. Studies on level of consumption are all over the map -- but I personally know several teens who drink 4-5 sodas a day. That's over 600-750 calories per day (a full meal). You're going to gain weight if you increase your caloric intake by a full meal each day.

You're right and wrong -- it's both.

 

Of course. If your body burns 2000 calories a day, and you consume 2500 calories a day, then you're going to gain weight - regardless of whether those calories come from soda or a more nutritious diet.

 

I hate resurrecting old topics, but I just wanted to post a quick followup, remember that I told you guys and gals the cafeteria of our school was taking a healthy turn? Well, thankfully, they haven't removed sodas. The population of both natural and artificial juices is ever more present - for example, Fruitopia. That thing is actually worst than regular soda sugar-wise. Not the smartest move ever, I say.

 

Our school never had Soda...in fact, since my sister goes to the same school at the moment and she's in 6th grade at the moment...I can safely say that they still dont...

IMO kids are sent to schools to LEARN responsibility...not to be given free choice about whether to buy regular and/or diet soda...I say schools just shouldn't sell either on the premises.

 

My wife is an elementary school teacher, and there are no soda machines allowed in elementary schools or middle schools in Maryland. As it currently stands (although this may vary from one school district to the next) is that soda machines are only available to high school students. Now, I fully realize that many high school students aren't the most mature people in the world, but all high school students should understand the basic premise that if you drink several cans of regular soda every day, you're going to gain weight. In fact, given the pressure society currently places on appearance (moreso with women than men) I don't think there are too many high schoolers who would willingly drink regular soda if they are unhappy with their weight.