Differences in the nutritional value of homemade, home-brewed teas versus bottled brands of tea and assorted sugary soft drinks may be very obvious to most adults, but not nearly so much to kids.
You won't find a better example of this discrepancy than a recent University of Texas study of middle-school and high school age kids that found young patients who drank energy drinks and soft drinks watched more TV and ate unhealthy foods. In fact, a majority of girls (more than 50 percent) and boys (more than 60 percent) who participated in the study (totaling some 15,300 patients) drank at least one sugary drink every day, and 28 percent drank three or more of them per day. What's more, students who drank sodas and most sports drinks usually had poor health habits (they were less active and less likely to eat the right foods).
The disconnect: Kids who drank specific sugary, non-carbonated sports drinks -- Gatorade, Koolaid and punch -- were more likely to eat healthier foods and exercise at higher levels, making one wonder if they are just as blinded by the marketing hype as their younger peers -- "true-to-life" action figures like Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan replacing elves, clowns and assorted cartoon characters "selling" foods people don't need on TV.
On the other hand, you could make a great argument that kids are only mimicking the "blindness" to the obvious they see in their parents, taking into account a recent study about adults ignoring that fat person staring back at them in the mirror.
Learn more about which functional drinks -- from vitamin water to sports drinks -- are the best choices for your health in our recent newsletter.
Pediatrics September 27, 2010 Free Full Text PDF
ScienceDaily September 28, 2010
healthfinder.gov September 27, 2010
CNN Health September 27, 2010