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CBS News : Warning Labels On Soda?

The consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks has been linked to obesity in a number of studies. Teens have greater access to soft drinks than ever before and there are many groups out there who say that something must be done about it.

But what?

Faced with growing funding crises, schools have been partnering with soft drink manufacturers like Coke and Pepsi to obtain funding in exchange for putting their machines in school halls and lunch rooms.

But what is the cost?

It is said that the cost is that kids are becoming more and more unhealthy because of the ready-access to soft drinks and snacks in school.

I don’t think the answer is to put warning labels on soda. Is the possibility of obesity or tooth-decay going to deter most from making the choice? The warning labels on cigarettes did not stop people from smoking when they were added. In fact, you can still hear people utter “I know its bad for me, but ….”

I would venture to say that the choices kids make are mostly based on what they are taught at home, and only somewhat biased by what their friends are choosing. Obviously, kids are not going to make all the choices that are best for them — like a baked potato over french fries, or an apple over a twinkie — but, if given the choice of things they know and like the taste of, I would say that they would choose the better of the two in a majority of cases. That’s what I did when I was in high school …

In reality, I think the portion sizes are the problem now. Rather than 12oz cans of soda, some schools are dispensing 20-24oz bottles of soda. Potato chips are of the “Big Grab” variety.

In high school, we didn’t have choices from the basic food groups … we still ate a cheeseburger, fries and a can of pop … but it all was “regular size”.

Maybe if we cut down the portion sizes we’d be on the right track to curbing the obesity problem.