Drinking water is the best way to quench your thirst. Even better it doesn’t come with all the sugar found in most fruit drinks, soft drinks, sports drinks and flavoured mineral waters.
In New South Wales 55% of boys and almost 40% of girls in year six drink more than one cup of soft drink every day by year eight these figures rise almost 60% of boys and more than 40% of girls. This clearly identifies that our kids are consuming far too much sugar drinks rather than water.
Soft drinks, cordials, sports and energy drinks and flavoured mineral waters often have large amounts of sugar. In fact a can of soft drink contains around 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Drinking too many sweetened drinks can cause a range of problems including tooth decay, poor appetite, picky eating, change of bowel habits and putting on excess weight. These drinks should only be consumed occasionally not every day.
Another caution with sweetened drinks is the stimulant additive-caffeine. Not only does whole type soft drinks contain large amounts of sugar, they also contain caffeine. High amounts of caffeine are found in energy drinks. There are many side-effects of caffeine consumption particularly with children. These include disturbance with sleep, bedwetting, anxiety and headaches from drinking even small quantities. Consumption by children of cola drinks, particularly energy drinks is best avoided.
