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Children and soft drinks

QuarkChild

Critical Thinker
Q
Joined
Nov 19, 2002
Messages
354
Terminology warning: What this Californian is calling "soft drinks" might be called soda or coke in other parts of the country/world.

I was at an airport a few months ago, and saw a little kid who could not have been more than 4 years old or so drinking a soft drink. I personally find this repulsive, but I am open to the suggestion that there could be a perfectly good reason why a parent might allow it. (Although, to be honest, I can't think of any.) So anyway, I have a question for all of the parents here: Do you give your children soft drinks, and if so, when and why?

inspired by the coke/pepsi thread
 
(What you call soft drinks, this Southern boy calls coke... everything is coke...)

I dont see anything wrong with parents giving their children cokes. Sure, its not as healthy as Snapple products, but its not at all bad.

The problem comes later in the teenage years. I'm a teacher, I work at a school, since my school installed these new coke vending machines, there has been a 300% increase in dehydration related incidents.

If I had children, I'd buy my kids cokes. Of course, the coke isnt going to replace milk or water. Coke is in the same catergory as snack foods (I know this because its at the apex of the food guide pyramid... Keebler cookies, thank you so much for teaching me about the food guide pyramid :) ) and should be treated as such.

....but I am open to the suggestion that there could be a perfectly good reason why a parent might allow it.
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Coke tastes good. Its the same reason you might buy your kids a pack of gum. Gum obviously has no nutritional value, but it's delicious, so you give your kids the gum anyway.
 
I didn't let any of my children drink sodas until they were 10 or so. Partly I didn't want them getting all the sugar and caffiene, and partly I didn't want them developing the lifelong habit of reaching for a Coke whenever they're thirsty.

It worked perfectly. Two of them are teenagers now and drink probably one coke a day, compared to the MANY I would drink when I was their age.
 
I use soda/soft drinks/coke as a treat. To my thinking it is the same as a few cookies. You eat a good meal, have healthy snacks, lots of milk and juice and a small cup of soda makes a nice treat.

Like anything else, it's a matter of how much, how often.



Boo
 
I'd be the first to admit that I'm am addicted to caffine (or softdrinks in general)

All the highschools in the area have partnerships with either coke or pepsi, and now that I have a job, I always have enough spare change to purchase a pop at the start of the day (in place of coffee or tea). I got so that I was drinking at least 1.5 Liters of vanilla coke, pepsi blue, or coke a day last semester. Then we went on a school camping trip for a week, where I had no access to soft drinks of any kind. I started shaking by the 3rd day, presumably from withdrawl. I had to eat my emergency chocolate just to stop shaking.

Ever since, I have limited my caffene intake, and have been drinking as much water as possible.
 
Completely unrelated, but I notice all the different "dialects" of English all across the country. Maybe its just me, but I call everything coke. I'm impartial to the word "soda". I really dont like the word "pop". Something about hearing the words "sodapop" just pisses me off. At least I havent come across a truely compulsive individual who calls it "sodapopcoke"... I dont know what I'd do then...
 
Get a life - the child was 4 years old! That's plenty old enough to enjoy a coke.

Heck, when my wife and I were kids, the cure for an upset stomach was pure Syrup of Coke (all drugstores sold it).

It figures this thread would come from California - if that upsets you like that, a bit of advice: don't ever come to New Jersey. The sight of a kid eating a cheese steak would give you a stroke.
 
SteveW said:
Get a life - the child was 4 years old! That's plenty old enough to enjoy a coke.
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I knew it was just a matter of time before someone pounced on me. :)

It's mostly the dental effects that bother me. I doubt that drinking soft drinks once in a while on special occasions would permanently harm a child's teeth, but it seems to me that parents are putting their kids at higher risk of dental cavities if they make soft drinks available on a regular basis.

I don't know what a cheese steak is. Maybe we don't have those in California.
 
QuarkChild said:


I don't know what a cheese steak is. Maybe we don't have those in California.
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Next time your at a local grill look at the "Philadelphia Cheese Steak" on the menu. It does not resemble a true Philly cheesesteak, but points for trying.

Even California has a few places that serve 'em, yup, even Santa Cruz.
 
kookbreaker said:


Next time your at a local grill look at the "Philadelphia Cheese Steak" on the menu. It does not resemble a true Philly cheesesteak, but points for trying.

Even California has a few places that serve 'em, yup, even Santa Cruz.
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Well I don't remember it on the Saturn Cafe menu last time I delivered QuarkChild to Santa Cruz. Good vegan nachoes tho!

Now how long does it take to dissolve a nail in one of those colas?

I was hooked on caffeinated colas once, what made me quit was the cost. How stupid to pay so much for carbonated acidic sugar water. My liquid vice is now tea (green, oolong and black) Love those flavanoids!

Sure as an infrequent treat cola is OK for kids. Probably about the same age when you would allow them to drink coffee.
 
QuarkDad said:


Well I don't remember it on the Saturn Cafe menu last time I delivered QuarkChild to Santa Cruz. Good vegan nachoes tho!
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Bah! You need a grill. Not silly cafe!
 
QuarkDad said:
Now how long does it take to dissolve a nail in one of those colas?
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The same length of time as it does in orange juice.

To protect yourself from this, follow this rule: when you take a drink of soda (or orange juice), don't hold it in your mouth for weeks at a time. Instead, swallow it.
 
QuarkChild said:
It's mostly the dental effects that bother me. I doubt that drinking soft drinks once in a while on special occasions would permanently harm a child's teeth, but it seems to me that parents are putting their kids at higher risk of dental cavities if they make soft drinks available on a regular basis.
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This reminds me of a myth I heard when I was young about how if you place a tooth in a cup of Coke and leave it there for a certain about of time (a day, I think), the Coke will dissolve (or at least badly corrode) the tooth. I found that hard to believe, so I tried it with a baby tooth I lost. I set it in a styrofoam cup and filled it a quarter of the way with Coke. After a week, the Coke was nearly dried up and all sticky, but the tooth showed absolutely no change at all - except the exposed areas looked somewhat whiter.

In any case, I agree that subjecting your children to a higher sugar intake is asking for cavities; however, proper dental hygeine should intercept any adverse effects before they occur.
 
<This reminds me of a myth>

Would you please try that with some orange juice - THANKS
 
I have a 7 and 9 year old. They get 100% juice with breakfast lunch and dinner. If we are out at a party or have one in our home we allow them to have soda/soft drinks. We also let them have it once in a blue moon such as when they get a good report card and we let them have Burger King food.

Most things in moderation are OK.
 
of course 12 oz of soda has about the same sugar as 12 oz of juice or fruit drinks and will give your kid the same sugar rush as well. read the nutrition label.

don't think youre doing your kids any favors by giving them juice. much better off giving them an apple or orange.

and some parents seem to think if you stick some fruit flavored chemicals in a drink box it becomes healthy ("but it has vitamin C!"oh, puh-leeze). just as bad as soda but without the carbonation.
 
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