Link Between the Beverage Consumption and Body Fat in U.S Children

Abstract

Soft drinks have become a major contribution to obesity and other health related problems in America. The soft drink epidemic provides many calories with added sugar. it has been linked to overall diet quality and meeting nutrient requirements. Additional eighty-five empty calories or five percent of the total daily intake are consumed as soft drinks. A decline in milk consumption and an increase in nutrient poor beverages-- such as fruit drinks and soft drinks-- acquire long term problems, and less healthy behaviors. The consumption of sugary drinks in adolescents has increased over the last couple of decades and paralleled with increasing prevalence’s of over-weight and obesity in the United States.

Sugar sweetened beverages, particularly soda, provides little benefit to the human body. It’s imperative to include education about a proper balance on the beverages consumed. Children’s drinks affect the amounts of calories they consume and amount of calcium their bodies receive. On average a child needs vary on their age. Kids two to three should drink 700 milligrams of milk every day. Kids aged four to eight should drink 1000 milligrams of milk. While teens aged nine to eighteen are expected to drink thirteen thousand milligrams. Although milk is a go to fruit and vegetable juice. Invests in a infusion of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that bodies us and gives natural energy boost helping to restore and stimulate a balance, unlike empty calories of soft drinks. Studies prove that juice and milk given at a consistent basis to adolescent positively affected them in later years. The teens resulted in smaller waist circumference and a body fat than children who indulged in sugary drinks throughout their adolescent years.

Introduction

SSB is a Sugar sweetened beverage that is sweetened with various forms of added sugars such as brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, and sucrose. Thusly childhood obesity has become an epidemic due to the contributing factors of the media, television, marketing, limited access to healthier choices and knowledge of the positives of daily beverages available.

Background Information

The article Beverage Intake in Early childhood and change in Body Fat from Preschool to Adolescence conducted by Framingham Children’s Study discussed the effect of beverage intake patterns on body composition. Their study consisted of multiple sets of 3-day records were used to assess diet over 12 years.

The studies concluded that children with lowest milk intake in early childhood had 7.4% more body fat in later adolescence than those with higher intake. Fruits and vegetables juice were similarly responsive, in the adolescence those of low tertile intake had an.8 cm smaller waist circumference in their teens, compared to those of low tertile while sugar sweetened beverage and percent or other outcomes held no relation.

Synthesis

Our diets growing up illustrates a pattern that continues throughout our adulthood. Good habits are taught and cannot be acquired without proper adjustment. A child learns by example and experience what foods and beverages to eat and drink. A child receiving proper educational advantage on the awareness of eating is what matters now.

Drinks portion size has also held an important role in the dramatic indulging of sodas. Kids are drinking more without realizing that they have been served larger portions therefore consuming extra calories. In the 1970s sugary drinks made up 4 percent of the US daily calorie

Conclusion

Nutritionist believe that between birth and six years of age is the breeding ground for a lifetime eating patterns, especially if there is no change in the adult environment from childhood. Conclusively, proper eating habits results in a healthier life

SSB is a Sugar sweetened beverage that is sweetened with various forms of added sugars such as brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, honey, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, and sucrose. Consumption of SSBs and ASBs are associated with BMI and percentage body fat. Sugar Sweetened beverage consumption is an established risk factor for obesity in adolescents and is mainly found among males, young adults, non Hispanics or Mexican Americans.

The typical American drinks 52% of SSB calories at home and 48% of SSB calories away from home. A typical 20 ounce soda contains 15 to 18 teaspoons of sugar and upwards of 240 calories. Beverage acceptability in adulthood is related to complex forms of behavior interrelated with heredity, early childhood environment, current habits, attitudes, fads, and beliefs. Thusly childhood obesity has become an epidemic due to the contributing factors of the media, television, marketing, limited access to healthier choices and knowledge of the positives of daily beverages available.

Beverage companies spend on an average of about 3.2 billion dollars marketing carbonated drinks, with nearly half a billion dollars directed at youth, ages 2-17. Within a typical year a preschooler will have viewed an average of 213 ads for sugary and energy drinks, while teens and children will have viewed over 277 to 406 ads. Drinks portion size has also held an important role in the dramatic indulging of sodas. Kids are drinking more without realizing that they have been served larger portions therefore consuming extra calories. In the 1970s sugary drinks made up 4 percent of the US daily calorie. With all the promotion of sugary drinks there is a great need for parents to become more involved in planning and taking part in their child’s diet by building their child's cognitive learning skills. This can be done by creating routines that will allow the child's involvement with awareness of mechanisms that teach how we learn, remember, problem solve, and pay attention, rather than simply any actual knowledge. This develops their natural choice to be an option more prevalent to their needs than wants.

Children in their developing years are eager to learn about the “why” of eating. Nutrition being taught in creative ways can simplify some of the principles of nutrition needed throughout their adult lives. Developing an interpretation of the child’s interest along with simple techniques that works with the family’s schedule is a method of accomplishing the means to this end. Habits are learned and formed by early experiences of humans through food and drink consumption; from this they get their first impressions about the world in general. Throughout the human lifespan the body must be supplied with adequate food and beverage in sufficient amounts if it is to grow and develop. Habits are important because our childhood formations thereof are for a lifetime. Our diets growing up illustrates a pattern that continues throughout our adulthood. Good habits are taught and cannot be acquired without proper adjustment. A child learns by example and experience what foods and beverages to eat and drink.

A child receiving proper educational advantage on the awareness of eating is what matters now. The parent should also not neglect the most important rule of healthy eating by failing to set a good example of what to indulge in. Research concludes that a wide variation of drinks that are empowering in the child diet allows them more opportunity, as sociable, to change in dietary needs or preferences. The optimal goal of knowing the importance of beverages' effect on the health and growth of a child helps in so many progressive ways. It reduces the concerns of obesity in children. Obesity has no single contributor to reach this result but they do have precursors that makes losing the weight more difficult. The sugary drinks epidemic is offering little to no nutrients, especially when having a high calorie diet. The importance of meeting nutritional requirements, allows parents to be more impactful and encourage the replacement of certain nutrient poor beverages children consume on a regular basis with more nutrient dense sources; e.g. low-fat and/ or fat free milk and etc..

Beverage consumption and body fat have a direct correlation between childhood obesity and adult obesity. Obesity is the result of an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. The effects of the prolonged prevalence of to much weight creates health problems such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and type two diabetes, in a study conducted, reveals several important results from these analysis.

On average when the children turned 10 their milk drinking declined where as the intake of Sugar Sweetened Beverages increased. The children that had higher intake of milk, fruit, and vegetable juice had more beneficial effects. Where as those who indulged in sugar sweetened beverages had health issues associated with fat gain, which also correlated with the adolescent in Project Eat which measured the effects of beverage consumption on a group of children in a shorter time frame. Beverage intake patterns during childhood may have important effects of subsequent levels of body fat, in essence. We find, therefore, that over indulging in SSBs causes for a continuous string of gained body fat and health risk. However, in moderation it causes no serious effect on body fat change.

The article Beverage Intake in Early childhood and change in Body Fat from Preschool to Adolescence conducted by Framingham Children’s Study discussed the effect of beverage intake patterns on body composition. Their study consisted of multiple sets of 3-day records were used to assess diet over 12 years. The test was carried out on 103 non – Hispanic white boys and girls in 1987. The children’s BMI, waist circumference, and four skin folds were measured yearly. The percent body fat was evaluated by the follow up. Analysis of co valence and longitudinal mixed modeling were used to control for potential confounding by age, baseline body fat, percent of energy from fat, television/ video viewing time, other beverage groups intakes not included in exposure groups, mothers education, and BMI.

The conclusion suggested that milk and fruit and vegetable juice had a positive impact on reducing risk of excess body fat in later childhood and adolescence. The studies concluded that children with lowest milk intake in early childhood had 7.4% more body fat in later adolescence than those with higher intake. Fruits and vegetables juice were similarly responsive, in the adolescence those of low tertile intake had an.8 cm smaller waist circumference in their teens, compared to those of low tertile while sugar sweetened beverage and percent or other outcomes held no relation.

Drinking plain water is an effective way to ensure adequate hydration. Drinking plain water instead of caloric beverages may also help reduce dietary energy density and help in the management of body weight. Water from beverages and foods - more than any macro nutrient - is the key determinant of the energy density of the diet. Research shows that established body fat curves reflect the known difference in the development of fat and lean body mass in boys and girls. Focus is usually implemented on too much fat; children need a certain percentage requirements. A girl between ages of 5 to 12 with a body fat percentage of 15 or less is considered underweight. Normal body fat percentage for a girl is 15 to 29%; overweight 21 to 31%; and obese over 33%. For boys underweight is 12% body fat or less; normal weight, 14 to 22%; overweight 18 to 32%; and obese over 32%.

Long term and short term effects have an impact on children who have to much fat. Excess body fat sleep apnea and elevated blood sugar also leads to lower self esteem. If a child has a high body fat percentage the parents' goal should not be weight loss but to slow or stabilize the rate of weight gain to allow your child to grow into his weight. Enrolling a child promotes wellness and protects self-esteem. Topic of weight should be held with sensitive issue and approached in a certain manner. Pediatricians are encountering body percentage of body fat measurement receiving particular attention as a result of the obesity epidemic. Sugary beverages are generally increased throughout a persons’ adolescence.

There should be a culture change around drinking soda. Soda has a unique public health harm. To much sugar is troublesome because no one is really aware of the raised sugar.

Children should receive no more than 100 calories per day of sugary beverages. Roughly 20 percent of kids drink the mean daily intakes of 100% fruit juice for children aged 6 and >12 oz./per day, respectively. The AAP recommends against introduction of fruit juice into the diets of children less than 6 months old. For children aged 6 months to 6 years, 73% fell within the AAP recommendations and 9% consumed >12 oz. day. For children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 years, 94% fell within AAP recommendations.” Nutritionist believe that between birth and six years of age is the breeding ground for a lifetime eating patterns, especially if there is no change in the adult environment from childhood. Conclusively, proper eating habits results in a healthier life.