Children's long-term consumption of carbonated drinks leads to dependence
It has become a habit for many teenagers in Nanjing to treat cola as water. Yesterday, a survey conducted by the Population Research Institute of Nanjing Normal University found that 8.43% of middle school students consider carbonated beverages as their "main food" every day, completely replacing water. Some students even consume up to 2000 milliliters of carbonated drinks in a day, while the consumption of beneficial beverages such as plain water and milk is relatively insufficient.
Case:
Holding onto cola when thirsty
At a junior high school in Nanjing, a student named Xiao Wang refused to drink plain water after he started elementary school. Especially on Wednesdays and Fridays, when he had two physical education classes, he could finish a large bottle of cola in one breath when he got home.
It turns out that there are quite a few middle school students like Xiao Wang who only drink carbonated drinks and refuse to drink plain water. Recently, it was reported that this survey was conducted by the Population Research Institute of Nanjing Normal University. Researchers conducted a random questionnaire survey on a total of 1192 people in 7 middle schools in the city, analyzing the main health problems of Nanjing's teenagers from four aspects: physical health, mental health, moral and ideological health, and social adaptation health, and proposing countermeasures and suggestions.
In this survey, it is noted that among these middle school students, there is a relatively high proportion of both underweight and overweight students, totaling 42%, of which underweight students account for 28% and overweight students account for 14%. In addition, approximately 8.43% of middle school students consider carbonated drinks as water, and some even substitute carbonated drinks for plain water.
Experts:
Long-term consumption of carbonated drinks leads to dependence
In response to this, experts point out that the pH value of most carbonated drinks is between 2.0 and 4.0, and they contain added sugars such as sucrose. Excessive consumption can potentially lead to many health problems, such as obesity, dental caries, dietary imbalance, calcium loss, and decreased bone density, seriously affecting the growth and development of teenagers.
The survey also shows that parents have little awareness of the harm of soft drinks. Professor Huang Runlong from the Population Research Institute of Nanjing Normal University said that 82% of parents lack relevant knowledge about soft drinks. Dr. Hu Jianping from the Nutrition College of Tangchenbeijian said that after developing a habit, people will develop a certain dependency on carbonated drinks. In fact, carbonated drinks have no nutritional value.
Wang Liang, a nutritionist at the Nanjing Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Hospital, said, "Various carbonated drinks have high sugar content, and long-term consumption can easily lead to obesity. They also have no nutritional value and will definitely lead to problems if consumed for a long time. It is best to drink carbonated drinks as little as possible, especially for children, women, and the elderly."
