I recently received this interesting email and video link that I thought I would pass on to you. I always want to remind my readers, however, that turning to “diet drinks” is NOT the solution to avoiding the high sugar content of regular colas.
The solution is to avoid ALL colas. If, and when, you do drink a regular cola, simply drink them very sparingly.
It’s cool that the people making this video are in insurance, so Hat’s Off that SOMEONE in the insurance field is trying to save the system money by doing the right thing – changing the diet!
Hi Dr. Hull:
I’m a contributor for a site that helps people make informed health decisions, and during my recent research on children’s health and nutrition, I came across this page of yours. Given your interest in the subject, I thought you’d like to take a look at our guide.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “One out of three children in the United States is overweight or obese. On any given day, half the people in the U.S. consume sugary drinks…[they] are the top calorie source in teens’ diets at 226 calories per day.” This translates to a staggering $190 billion in obesity-related health care costs.
Soda is a main contributor to this health care disaster.
Raising Awareness
Raising awareness and understanding about the true costs of drinking a can of soda represents important steps in the fight against obesity. Washington State University is among the institutions who have shared this video among their health resources.
The video can be found at this link. The video is a part of the “Hidden Costs” series that aims to reveal the risks inherent in everyday products.
Physical Impacts
The physical impact that soda has on our health is staggering. While high caloric diets and sluggish lifestyles have led to skyrocketing obesity rates, that says nothing to the environmental impact an unrecycled can or bottle of soda has on our waterways and lands.
Beverage companies spend billions of dollars creating and nurturing this soda-addiction; our greatest defense is raising awareness and understanding about the industry and the sugary-beverages.
If the message speaks to you and your community, please feel free to include a link to the video on your site. If you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it as we’re always trying to improve our work.
Thanks,
Eric
The Hidden Costs Video Series
