Soft drinks are the top source of sugar in Americans' diets.

Soft drinks are the top source of sugar in Americans' diets.
By ROSIE MESTEL
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Some people deride them as "sugar water," others as "liquid candy." Never favorites with dietitians or parents, sodas are receiving more and more nutritional heat these days -- and the drumbeat to run them out of schools is growing louder.
Legislation is on the march, with anti-soda measures under consideration in many states and school districts.
The American Beverage Association, which represents most U.S. soft drink suppliers, is offering some concessions about school concessions. At an August meeting and in full-page ads in major newspapers, it resolved to remove sodas entirely from elementary schools, allow middle-school kids access to full-calorie sodas and fruit drinks only after school hours, and ensure that no more than 50 percent of the vending machine beverage offerings in high schools are soft drinks.
Other bad stuff
Why all this finger-pointing at sodas? After all, we live in an environment brimming with burgers, fries, snack cakes and chips, dealt in heftier and heftier portions to kids slumped in front of televisions and computers. What earthly effect can limiting just one item -- the beverage -- have on the health and weight of our offspring?
Nutrition scientists agree that getting children to move more and eat better are important. But they also say that this spotlight on sugary soft drinks makes sense. These drinks are our No. 1 dietary source of added sugars, they say. Studies connect them to body heft and nutrient shortfalls. And that moniker "liquid candy" is spot-on: The drinks are pretty much bereft of nutritional value.
"If you have to cut calories ... why not start with sugar water?" says Dr. Carlos Camargo, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
But don't just focus on sodas, experts add.
Other sugary drinks
Juice drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, calorie-laden coffee and even juice itself will help pack on pounds if imbibed to excess -- and more than artificially sweetened sodas will.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that school-age children limit their fruit juice to 8 to 12 ounces daily.
Electrolyte-replenishing sports drinks, which in the plan would remain in middle and high schools, are useful after very vigorous exercise but hardly needed after a 30-minute P.E. session.
"There's sort of a misperception about the role that sports drinks play in a nutritious diet," says Rachel Johnson, professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont. "If a child's thirsty, water is the best beverage."
Sodas in history
Americans got their first taste of carbonated beverages well over a century ago. The first bottled sodas were produced in the 1830s, sold in corked bottles and often jazzed up with flavors such as sarsaparilla, lemon and strawberry.
The industry took off in 1892 after the invention of a cap to keep gas firmly in bottles, allowing for wide distribution.
By 1976, soft drink sales had surpassed those of milk. Since 1971, soda consumption has doubled, from an average of 25.5 gallons per person per year to more than 46 gallons in 2003.
Most of these gallons, especially among kids, are full-calorie, though in recent years there has been a small, steady increase in diet soda sales.
Trendy drinks
At the same time, a plethora of other, non-fizzy sugar-sweetened drinks have gained popularity, especially among the young: trendy teas, energy drinks and sports drinks.
In 2002, a report from the federally mandated Institute of Medicine found that people consuming lots of added sugars were more likely to be deficient in micronutrients such as calcium, phosphorus and magnesium, as well as various vitamins.
On the basis of these nutrient deficiencies, the panel recommended that we limit our added sugar intake to no more than 25 percent of our daily calories.
Other reports, such as one in 2003 from the World Health Organization, recommended we keep our added sugar intake at 10 percent or lower because of its link not only to poor diet quality but also to being overweight.
Another cautionary note against sugar was sounded earlier this year in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which guides federal nutrition education and school lunches.
Members of the committee acknowledged that good studies linking soft drinks and excess heft are few, and the relationships when found are sometimes weak, says committee member Joanne Lupton, professor of nutrition at Texas A & amp;M University.
Still, the committee thought there was enough evidence to suggest people lower their added sugar intake, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages, she says.
Boston study
In one study the committee considered, scientists at the Children's Hospital Boston tracked 548 schoolchildren of various ethnicities for 19 months. They found that kids who increased their consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks during the study's course had slightly higher body mass indexes and were more likely to be obese, after taking into account other lifestyle differences such as levels of physical activity.
Each added 8-ounce daily serving of soft drink increased the chance of being obese by 60 percent, the scientists found.
In another study, British scientists tested a school-based campaign they dubbed "Ditch the Fizz." Classrooms at six elementary schools were exposed to the campaign, which used nutrition lessons and class exercises to discourage soda-drinking.
A year later, classes exposed to the anti-soda message had reduced their soda consumption by 0.6 glasses a day. Rates of overweight kids were very slightly lowered -- by 0.2 percent.
In the class that didn't receive the drink-less-soda message, consumption went up slightly -- and there was a 7.5 percent increase in the number of overweight kids.
Appetite regulation
Some scientists worry about sugary drinks in particular because there's evidence that calories we drink -- vs. eat -- may not be counted by our appetite regulation system.
Eat a huge cookie and you'll compensate at least somewhat for that indulgence at dinner. Drink a 52-ounce X-treme Gulp soda and you won't -- or your adjustment will be smaller.
"If it's liquid and contributing calories, it's a potentially problematic component of the diet," says Rick Mattes, foods and nutrition professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.