Soft Drinks should be treated as a Public Health Danger like Cigarettes, Trans Fats, Alcohol, or Drugs

It’s growing. Waistlines are expanding but worse are the growing number of cases of childhood and adult obesity. Also frightening are the growing number of cases of diabetes type II and depression.  It’s growing. The number of people overdosing (abusing) heroin (related to depression), amputation of body parts (related to diabetes), victims of bullying (related to childhood obesity), and chronic pain (related to adult obesity). It’s growing. Careless attention to portion sizes and menu choices, noncompliance with diabetes therapies because of cost, accessibility or other barriers, and the amount of people turning to street drugs like heroin because they cannot get an appointment with mental health specialists or pay for their medicines. It’s growing. America has an insatiable and ever expanding thirst for sugary soft drinks and this dangerous appetite is creeping into every corner of our existence.  People wake up one day and wonder how they got fat, or why they need to take insulin, or wonder why they should even bother to go on living. They feel tired, depressed, unbalanced; their joints ache, their muscles ache, their heads ache. Pain is their daily companion; sluggishness is their constant state of being, or they wake up to a bleak purposeless existence to which they would willingly turn their backs.  It’s growing.  The amount of tax dollars needed to subsidize the medical care for these people. Who or what is to blame? What is the common denominator? Although many factors play a role, processed refined sugar is on the top ten list of villains and because of the propensity of people to overindulge in soft drinks which are made of chemicals and processed refined sugar the proposal is on the table for soft drinks to be treated as a public health danger like cigarettes, trans fats, alcohol, or drugs.  

How do you stop a runaway train? Under the best circumstances you probably can’t without collateral damage.  The train is soft drinks, those sugary, sweet, tangy, bubbly, energy boosting marvels we drink by the gallons.  What’s wrong with this train and why is it a runaway?  Soft drinks are sugar, chemical, artificial flavored and colored beverages that are introduced to children, even toddlers, and remain a constant in their lives through adulthood sometimes even to death.  Soft drinks are as American as apple pie and baseball except that we only eat a slice of pie once in a while and baseball doesn’t give you diabetes.  The problem is that so many Americans have drunk so much soda every day for so long that many disease processes are showing up that are linked to this consumption; diseases like obesity, morbid obesity, diabetes, and depression among others.

Regarding a link between soft drinks and depression, one can read an article on WebMD, specifically contributed by Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, N.C., where it is proposed that the potential effects of drinking these beverages on depression are largely correlative in nature and that it is a possible conclusion that a higher number of people who drank soft drinks seemed to have presented with a “higher prevalence of depression, suicidal thoughts and acts, and other mental stress”.  It is important to distinguish the fact though that even if a correlation can be discerned this does not necessarily proves causation between soft drinks and all cases of depression. 

What is the link between soft drinks and obesity?  According to Azeen Ghorayshi, in her article "Too Big to Chug: How Our Sodas Got So Huge," from the magazine Mother Jones June 2012, America has gone from a standard 7-ounce soda back in 1955 to an average 42-ounce in 2012 as a single regular serving. The Centers for Disease Control maintains that during 1999-2000 Americans took in 7% of their daily caloric intake as sugar-based soft drinks which are calories that have no nutritive value at all.  None.  Zero.  Based on a 1600 calorie diet, average for an older adult, that 7% comes out to approximately 140 calories.  That’s a lot of calories for which there is no payback. If you take 140 from 1600 you have 1460 calories left for three meals.  Divide 1460 by three and you have 487 calories per meal with nothing left for snacks.  Can you put together three well-balanced nutritious and delicious meals for under 500 calories each on a regular basis? Very challenging to say the least. So why in the world would we waste precious calories on something that gives us nothing positive for our bodies? Even though statistics show that we only drink an average of one soda per day, is this really accurate? How many people you know actually only drink one soda per day? How many people do not snack?  How many people actually exercise every day?  The point is that it is incredibly challenging to make good on the calorie equations when drinking soda sabotages the entire process by hogging so many calories and further insulting our bodies by providing no nutritive value at all.

Most Americans are aware of the strong link between sugary drinks and diabetes. Sugar is introduced to the body every day and any number of negative consequences may occur if you do not work hard to maintain a good balance of intake and exercise.  If you are not burning calories on an Olympic training level on a daily basis you are going to hold onto those sugar calories in your liver and in your cells.  One of the things insulin does is it gets released by the pancreas and goes to work ‘sweeping’ extra sugar molecules out of the bloodstream and into the cells.  The sugar molecules are told to stay put until further notice – that’s how you get fat.  People with type II diabetes make insulin but their cells don’t use it as well as they should. 

The train will crash.  The question now is when and who will suffer?  Starting with the elder generation we can see (and I have observed this in my role as a community health nurse) the many manifestations of soft drink abuse including problems associated with being overweight, poor dentition, type II diabetes, and depression. The middle aged population has all of the same problems.  Our youth is overwhelmed with these problems also as these products are essentially rammed down their throats by big dollar marketing and advertising.  They are bombarded with marketing flotsam at school, restaurants, fast food joints, and at corner market and grocery stores. Sodas have replaced milk.  Sodas have replaced whole juices.  Sodas have replaced food.  Sodas have absolutely no nutritive value yet we pour these poison drinks down our kids’ throats and our own without a second thought yet balk at the effort to put whole nutritive real food in our collective bellies. 

If we were to try to stop the train (if the soft drink industry was challenged) there are those who contend that livelihoods could be threatened in an already tenuous economic environment.  Examples of threatened livelihoods could include factory workers, administrative staff and executives of soft drink manufacturing forms, chemists, lawyers, marketing and advertising staff , truckers, independent distributors, local delivery drivers, soda machine stockers, mechanics (who repair the delivery trucks or tractor trailers or even vending machines, manufacturers of bottles, cans, cardboard (packaging for soda), and the list goes on.  The soft drink industry reaches far and wide into the economy and the effect would be devastating if soft drinks were banned, taxed, or otherwise muted.  An inquisitive student from the Potomac State Summer English 102 class queried: “What would companies such as Coke or Pepsi do?  They employ millions of people throughout the country, so these millions would be left jobless making the unemployment rate higher than it already is.  Many of these people would be able to find other jobs (but still) leaving thousands of families in debt and poverty.  It is crazy to realize what a change, which should benefit society, would do to so people in America.”  I agree, it is stupefying to consider this aspect. Ethically, we cannot ask, demand, or force one of the biggest players in the economic infrastructure to suddenly stop playing.  It just doesn’t work that way. Hopefully, the power of capitalism will be the catalyst for change; if the demand grows for alternative beverage products then maybe Big Soda will supply the market accordingly.

A second reason against implementing an assault or other restriction in order to impede consumption of soft drinks because they contribute to obesity is that it restricts personal choice.  Many contend that government regulation should not interfere with the right to choose when it comes to the consumption of beverages.  In general, the audience holds their freedoms close to their hearts, including what they can or cannot eat and drink.  They feel that no matter if it is good or bad for them in the short or long run, it is up to them to indulge or not.  It is considered a fundamental right. Would you be surprised to know that in fact, the government has already regulated a component of our daily menu when it restricted trans-fat because of the commonly accepted fact that it can increase heart related diseases.  The FDA (Food & Drug Administration) first wanted to have trans-fat information displayed on all food nutrition labels and subsequently voiced support for a full out ban on trans fats. The public accepted this action and interestingly did not perceive it as ‘nannyism’.  This observation should be investigated.

Grow a rebellion.  The train is barreling down the tracks and there are many individual solutions, none of which by themselves can solve this issue.  Just like cigarettes, many people will and do acknowledge that inherent dangers of soft drinks as a regular overconsumed part of our daily diets.  What we need is to grow a movement or rebellion against the wanton purchase and over consumption of sugary soft drinks.  It was concluded after rigorous study that cigarettes and trans fats were a danger to public health and our government took action against them.  Soft drinks in excess are a public health danger and unless the public can self- correct we must bring this topic to those who can implement change.  If we don’t we will subsidize the medical care for millions of people who choose poorly and reap the negative benefits of obesity, metabolic syndrome, as well as risking diabetes, and depression. Should the government enact restrictions on soda like it has on cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and trans fats?  Ariel Maiorano, shared in her information piece, “Bloomberg’s Soda Ban”, Former Mayor Bloomberg of New York tried to ban soda.  He tried to make it Public Enemy #1 just like cigarettes and trans fats and was accused of ‘nannyism’. However, Bloomberg tried to get the ban in place and in the process was also accused of circumventing the bureaucracy of the legislative process. The ban was written with provocative language that was originally an amendment to an established policy.  The policy and political maneuverings were considered by some to avoid the legislative process. However, others felt it was government’s responsibility to act on behalf of the citizenry.  Former Mayor Bloomberg felt there needed to be a policy to begin bringing to light the national problem of obesity and focusing on a program to respond on a local level.  The Bloomberg soda ban was a high profile example of trying to make a positive impact on a large group of people which ended in failure when he courts overturned the ban. 

Perspective is important so maybe we should step back and review the assault on cigarettes and how it has been and still is a long hard fought battle for the bodies and minds of our populace.  According to Borio, with Tobacco News and Information, the connection between lung cancer and smoking was first made in the 1950’s.  This was around the same time the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) issued complaints against advertisements for cigarettes which were not true.  Examining Borio’s timeline, it is apparent change has occurred slowly in the fight against cigarettes.  The reader may be able to get a sense of the tempo and intensity from the following, again from Borio, “in a survey of leading magazines, the Columbia Journalism Revue in 1978 is unable to find a single article in seven years of publication that would have given readers a clear notion of the nature and extent of the medical and social havoc being wreaked by the cigarette smoking habit…one must conclude that advertising revenue can indeed silence the editors of America.” It wasn’t until the 2000’s that multiple jurisdictions begin to impose/enforce the Clean Air Act and smoke free zones.  Activists then set their sights on the next battlefield: Second Hand Smoke. These highlights seem to demonstrate that social change is as slow moving as a glacier but once the change takes root the play through the government and the courts eventually gives way to a paradigm shift of societal thinking and governance.  To think a shift in attitude would occur any faster regarding soft drinks is folly.

More solutions should reflect some of the same strategies used to achieve the smoking ban including putting a muzzle on marketing and advertising of soft drinks in children’s programming, closing loopholes in nutrition labeling, empowering parents to make better choices for their families, teaching kids about better alternatives which we are trying to do right now, create soft drink awareness in restaurants, fast food joints, place reminders in grocery stores to monitor purchases, use grass roots energy to campaign that soft drinks are as bad as cigarettes, trans fats, guns, drugs, and other weapons of bodily destruction.

Elle Penner MPH, RD, Registered Dietician and Food & Nutrition Editor for Fitness Pals’ blog, Hello Healthy writes an informative piece on July 10, 2015 highlighting the obvious dangers but also offering a four week step by step self-help plan to get people started on weaning themselves off soda. It is called the Better Beverage Challenge and it gives the reader some concrete strategies for realigning their thinking and drinking habits.  I encourage every reader to visit this blog page and incorporate at least one of these helpful tips into their lives.  The URL is listed on the Works Cited page.

Portion sizes and 24/7 availability of liquid candy have contributed to the alarming growth of cases of obesity, diabetes, and depression in the United States.  By itself, a 7-ounce soda once in blue moon, may not seem so bad but that is not the reality in today’s America.  Without a concerted effort on the part of each individual there will be no paradigm shift away from this self-fulfilling problem. Perhaps, the most socially responsible way to stop the train would be to have people refuse soft drinks in the form of boycott, ban, tax, or self-discipline.  

 

Works Cited

Borio, Gene. "Tobacco Timeline: The Twentieth Century 1900-1949--The Rise of the Cigarette."Tobacco News and Information. Tobacco.org, 1993-2003. Web. 8 July 2015.             http://archive.tobacco.org/resources/history/Tobacco_History20-1.html.

 

Boyles, Salynn. "Sweetened Drinks Linked to Depression Risk." Web MD Health News. Ed. Laura Martin MD. WebMD , 8 Jan. 2013. Web. 8 July 2015. http://www.webmd.com/depression/news/20130104/sweetened-drinks-depression.

 

Ghorayshi, Azeen. "Too Big to Chug: How Our Sodas Got So Huge." Culture. Mother Jones, 25    June 2012. Web. 8 July 2015. <http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/06/supersize-biggest-sodas-mcdonalds-big-gulp-chart>.

 

Maiorano, Ariel, et.al. "Bloomberg's Soda Ban." New York City Soda Ban. Prezi, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 19 June 2015.< https://prezi.com/whioxh4tznkl/bloombergs-soda-ban/>. 

          

Penner MPH, RD, Elle. "The Better Beverage Challenge." Hello Healthy. Fitness Pal, 10 July 2015. Web. 14 July 2015. https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/the-better-beverage-challenge/.

 

"Research to Practices Series No. 3: Does Drinking Beverages with Added Sugars Increase the Risk of Overweight." Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity.. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006. Web. 19 June 2015. <http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/r2p_sweetend_beverages.pdf>.