America’s Other Drinking Problem
I’ve written before about the dangers of soft drink addiction…which sounds like it could even be a joke. How many times have you heard someone refer to themselves as a “cokeaholic”? The truth is, soda addiction is no laughing matter. The chemicals in soft drinks are not only habit forming, but highly addictive. And that’s exactly what the big soda companies want. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the negative health effects of soda
Is Soda Addiction a New Problem?
Back in 2002, Dr. Judith Valentine, Ph.D. described the problem with soda in her article “Soft Drinks: America’s Other Drinking Problem.” [1]
Have you noticed your kids’ school has more soda machines than yours did when you were a kid? There’s a reason for that, and it’s ugly — the major soft drink companies are targeting schools. Since the 1990’s, most schools in the United States have had to deal with painful budget cuts. They must decide between slashing programs or selling out to marketing campaigns. It’s common for schools to have exclusive contracts with major soda companies that don’t include healthy alternatives to soda, like coconut water.
“In 1998 the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) warned the public that soft drink companies were beginning to infiltrate our schools and kid clubs. For example, they reported that Coca-Cola paid the Boys & Girls Clubs of America $60 million to market its brand exclusively in over 2000 facilities. Fast food companies selling soft drinks now run ads on Channel One, the commercial television network with programming shown in classrooms almost every day to eight million middle, junior and high school students. In 1993, District 11 in Colorado Springs became the first public school district in the US to place ads for Burger King in its hallways and on the sides of its school buses. Later, the school district signed a 10-year deal with Coca-Cola, bringing in $11 million during the life of the contract. This arrangement was later imitated all over Colorado. The contracts specify annual sales quotas with the result that school administrators encourage students to drink sodas, even in the classrooms.”
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