Liquid Candy--New study finds Soda consumption down among high school students

p Poor Magazine has incorporated healthy eating among our youth, indigenous and poverty scholars by offering healthy, organicnbsp;food during meetings, community gatherings, protests, and, of course, as an act of resistance to the corporate attack on our health by agribusiness and food processors.nbsp; We are eating in a healthy way to honor Pachamama, our ancestors and our bodies.nbsp;/p p A new study by the Centers for Disease Control reports that high school students are drinking less soda and more water, juice and milk.nbsp; The study found that one in four students drink soda daily.nbsp; This figure is down from the figures in the 1990#39;s and early 2000#39;s when 3/4 of teens were drinking high sugar drinks every day.nbsp; The study was based on a survey last year of more than 11,000 High School students./p p Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser#39;s groundbreaking book, Fast Food Nation (2001) provides an historical, agricultural, political and human health perspective on the fast food industry--a mutli-billion dollar industry that has done much to transform the natural landscape as well as the eating and working habits of the nation.nbsp;/p p Fast Food Nation cited who isnbsp;emnot /embenefiting from the marketing efforts of the soda manufacturers: Children.nbsp; The fast food industry benefits heavily because soda gives the chain restaurants its highest profit margin--higher than burgers, fries or McNuggets.nbsp; McDonalds sells more coca cola than anyone else in the world./p p Schlosser wrote of a 1999 study, Liquid Candy by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.nbsp; It stated that in 1978 a teenaged American boy drank 7 ounces of soda a day; today it is 3 times that amount.nbsp; For girls the amount doubled.nbsp;/p p Each can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.nbsp; It also contains caffeine.nbsp; Excessive consumption of soda can lead to calcium deficiencies and increased propensity to bone fractures.nbsp; According to Schlosser, the adult soda market has waned; marketing soda to kids has been a vital yet easy way for the soda companies to meet their sales goals./p p According to the Centers for Disease Control study, for each additional sweet drink consumed per day, the odds of obesity increased 60%./p p POOR Magazine gives props to the youth scholars who have seen through the game of the soda companies.nbsp; We give props to the mamaz and fathers who take to time educate their children about healthy eating and about making healthy choices to not only honor their bodies, but to honor the ancestors and our earth mother./p