Hot on the heels of a report showing that Americans have given up the equivalent of 126 chocolate doughnuts a year by opting to consume bottled water ahead of other non-alcoholic beverages, there’s now evidence that teens are also turning their backs on soft drinks.
The government survey, conducted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed that in 2015:
- 20 per cent of students reported drinking a sugar-sweetened beverage one or more times a day during the previous week, down from 27 per cent in 2013 and 34 per cent in 2007.
- 26 per cent of teens said they had not consumed any sugary soda at all in the previous seven days, up from 22 per cent in 2013 and about 19 per cent in 2007.
The research also identified that water had become the drink of choice for many. In 2015, nearly 74 per cent of students drank one or more glasses of water a day during the previous week, and 64 per cent said they drank two or more glasses of water.
The drivers of the trend are mainly public campaigns convincing children that they shouldn’t consume beverages loaded with empty calories, as well as banning of sugary drinks from vending machines.
‘Over the past 15 years, a great deal of research has demonstrated that sugar drinks promote weight gain and obesity, diabetes and heart disease. That evidence has fuelled campaigns to reduce consumption,’ says president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Michael Jacobson.
‘This is an inspiring tale, and one South Africa – with its spiralling obesity and diabetes figures – should look to emulate,’ said South African National Bottled Water Association executive director, Charlotte Metcalf.
‘The health benefits of drinking water cannot be overlooked. Like the planet we inhabit, our bodies comprise mostly water. The brain is 85 per cent water, our blood is 90 per cent water, and the liver, one of our most vital organs, is 96 per cent water.
‘Internationally renowned scientists restated the importance of adequate hydration to maintain good health and well-being at the 12th European Nutrition Conference FENS held in Berlin late last year. Locally, the importance of water in the daily diet was highlighted in the Department of Health’s National Guide for Healthy Meal Provisioning in the Workplace. It topped the Department’s list when it comes to serving beverages at meetings, conferences or in cafeterias or canteens, as well as the list it compiled in respect of beverages provided through vending machines and kiosks.
‘Bottled water also is the best packaged beverage option for the environment; it has the lightest environmental footprint of all packaged beverages – one that can be reduced by 25 per cent if consumers were to simply recycle the bottle,’ Metcalf said.
