Recently, I have made it a point, to glance around a restaurant when I am there and take a look at what the kids are drinking. I was not surprised when almost half of the kids that I observed were drinking soda! And not the kiddie sized either, the adult sized drinks! After seeing this, I asked myself what I drank as a kid. I rarely remember drinking coke or soda but I do remember only drinking sweet tea. And I am from Georgia, so when I say sweet...I mean SWEET! 2 cups of sugar per gallon!. It was like syrup. It was delicious...anyway...Kids want sugar! They want sugar, caffeine and carbonation. All three can be so harmful to kids and adults! The sugar causes obesity and fatique, the caffeine can be detramental to their little hearts and the carbonation is rotting their teeth! So why as parents, do we give this to our kids knowing how bad it can be? Because we love them and want to make them happy?...well...this doesn't really make sense. We do love our kids, so we need to show a little tough love sometimes and say No. No, you cannot have a Dr.Pepper with dinner, how about water or juice.
And I can here everyone now saying, well, juice has lots of sugar! Yes, it does, but most of it is natural sugar which works much more in sync with our bodies. You can also buy juices with 50% less sugar now (Motts for Tots, Tropicana 50) or water it down. And don't get sucked in by Powerade and Gatorade either! Their commercials make them seem so healthy! I mean, pro athletes drink it..right?! Sports drinks have alot of sugar in them also. You should only drink a sports drink when you are sweating and exercising vigorously, as pro athletes do on a regular basis. Us and our kids, probably don't do that very often, therefore...don't drink them or water them down so the sugar content is cut in half.
We need to set a good example for our kiddos. You don't order the coke or Dr.Pepper. Get a water. They will follow your example.
Click here to see a great chart that shows you the sugar content is popular drinks.
And I can here everyone now saying, well, juice has lots of sugar! Yes, it does, but most of it is natural sugar which works much more in sync with our bodies. You can also buy juices with 50% less sugar now (Motts for Tots, Tropicana 50) or water it down. And don't get sucked in by Powerade and Gatorade either! Their commercials make them seem so healthy! I mean, pro athletes drink it..right?! Sports drinks have alot of sugar in them also. You should only drink a sports drink when you are sweating and exercising vigorously, as pro athletes do on a regular basis. Us and our kids, probably don't do that very often, therefore...don't drink them or water them down so the sugar content is cut in half.
We need to set a good example for our kiddos. You don't order the coke or Dr.Pepper. Get a water. They will follow your example.
Click here to see a great chart that shows you the sugar content is popular drinks.