Anti-soda plan appeared to cut obesity :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Anti-soda plan appeared to cut obesity

Posted by admin on Friday, April 23, 2004 - 06:35 AM

LONDON -- A school program discouraging carbonated drinks appeared to be effective in reducing obesity among children, a new study suggests -- the first research to document that such programs work.
A high intake of sweetened carbonated drinks probably contributes to childhood obesity, researchers say. But until now there have been no studies showing that efforts to cut children's soft drink consumption would do any good. The study, outlined this week on the Web site of the British Medical Journal, found that a one-year "Ditch the Fizz" campaign discouraging sweetened and diet soft drinks led to a decrease in the percentage of elementary school children who were overweight or obese. The improvement occurred after a modest reduction in consumption -- less than a can a day. Representatives of the soft drink industry contested the implications of the results. The study "reduced the average daily consumption of carbonated soft drinks by about 150 milliliters, or 35 calories -- half the reduction was in diet carbonated soft drinks. This represents about 2 percent of a child's calorie intake, not a significant amount," the British Soft Drink Association said in a statement. But other experts were impressed. "If a simple targeted message aimed at kids can decrease development of obesity, by whatever means, that's ground-breaking," said Dr. David Ludwig, who runs a pediatric obesity clinic at Children's Hospital in Boston. Previous studies of anti-obesity school programs -- some costing millions of dollars -- have been disappointing. Such programs, which included reducing dietary fat or trying to get students to exercise more, largely failed to show any meaningful impact. The investigators studied 644 children, ages 7 to 11, in six primary schools in Christchurch, England. Half of the classes participated in a program discouraging sodas and stressing the benefits of a healthy diet, while the other half did not.

· 147 Reads ·