Obesity, Kids and Beverages: Top Five Tips for Replacing Sugary Beverages Can Help Kids Develop Healthy New Back-to-School Habit
Research shows that one of the best, and easiest, ways parents and their children can avoid the serious health consequences of obesity is by drinking at least 6-8 servings of water each day. Yet, children often balk at drinking water, because there’s a bevy of alternatives aimed at kids that promise more exciting taste. Instead, they deliver too much sugar and too many calories, making them a major contributing factor to the rise in childhood obesity rates.
SOUTHPORT, CT (PRWEB) September 13, 2006
For parents of school-age children, the fall season can feel like a second “New Year.” The structure of back to school and other routines often provides an opportunity to establish new habits, or reinstate old ones, that are difficult to implement during the more freewheeling days of summer. This year, in light of current data that shows a rocketing increase in the number of American kids who are either overweight or obese, one key “resolution” many parents are making is to help their children develop healthy habits.
“Research shows that one of the best, and easiest, ways parents and their children can avoid the serious health consequences of overweight and obesity is by drinking at least 6-8 servings of water each day,” notes Nina Riley, founder and CEO of Water Sensations, Inc. “Yet, children often balk at drinking water, because there’s a bevy of alternatives aimed at kids that promise more exciting taste. Instead, they deliver too much sugar and too many calories, making them a major contributing factor to the rise in childhood obesity rates,” Riley explains. Drinking one 12 oz can of any sugary drink every day delivers 10 tsp of sugar and potentially 15 lbs of weight gain per year.
Indeed, in a review study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health pored over the results of 30 of the best studies published since 1966 on the subject of beverages and childhood obesity, and the link is clear. “The weight of [the]…evidence indicates that a greater consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain and obesity,” the authors cautioned, adding that “sufficient evidence exists for public health strategies to discourage consumption of sugary drinks as part of a healthy lifestyle.”
Unfortunately, heeding the advice is proving more difficult than it might seem. According to this year’s annual government report “America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being,” the rate of childhood overweight and obesity continues its upward spiral. Today, 18% of U. S. children over the age of 5 are overweight or obese, a tripling of the 1980 overweight/obesity rate of just 6%. “This startling number represents more than ten million American children who are at risk not only for the discomforts of being overweight – taunting or teasing by classmates, or an inability to join in fun sports or school activities – but also for the real health dangers of obesity, such as early onset of Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke,” warns Judy Hochstadt, MD, a Connecticut-based pediatric endocrinologist and specialist in childhood diabetes and obesity.
The good news, Dr. Hochstadt continues, is that drinking water can actually promote weight loss, while providing an alternative to the sugary beverages that are contributing to what most experts are now terming the “childhood obesity epidemic.” The trick, of course, is to make water as flavorful and interesting to children as sugar - and calorie-laden sodas and juice drinks are.
Water Sensations’ Riley, along with business partner Carolyn Frzop, think they have the answer. The two actually launched Water Sensations – a company that makes sugar-free, calorie-free, carb-free liquid flavor enhancers for water – in response to their own challenge as mothers to get their children to drink more water in lieu of soda and other sugary beverages. “We realized the mission we were undertaking for our own families was so important – and the solution we found was so terrific – that we could share it with people across the country and around the world who wanted to take the ‘boring’ out of drinking more water,” Riley explains. The company now offers six flavors of its convenient, colorless liquid packets (no mess, no stains), each of which flavors a standard single-serve bottle or large glass of water.
Riley and Frzop also offer their “Top 5 Tips” for parents who want to encourage their children to drink more water, and develop a habit that can lead to a lifetime of better health:
1. Flavor it up! Children are interested in taste, and plain water offers little. Adding sugar-free, calorie-free flavor to their water – whether from a packet of Water Sensations or a slice of citrus fruit – can get kids more excited about forgoing the soda or juice drinks.
2. Put water front and center! Serve a glass of water with every meal, keep a pitcher of pre-flavored water in the refrigerator, toss a bottle and a Water Sensations packet in kids’ backpacks, sports bags and lunchboxes. They’re more likely to drink it if it’s conveniently available to them.
3. Stock alternative energy boosters! For teenagers especially, drinking sugary sodas, teas, coffees and energy drinks are as much about the caffeine boost as they are about the thirst quench. Replace these drinks with flavored waters, and let them get a healthier ‘jolt’ from complex carbohydrate/protein snacks like whole grain crackers and cheese, granola with yogurt, a fruit smoothie, etc. Bonus! Increased water intake can help keep skin clear, a major esteem booster for teenagers.
4. Be a good role model! Children of all ages look to their parents and other adults in authority to model positive habits and behaviors. Make sure your kids “catch” you drinking plenty of water, and you’ll be on your way to leaving them a legacy of good health for generations to come.
5. Stick to the 6-8 a day rule! With these tips, you’ll find it easier to establish drinking enough water every day as a non-negotiable health rule. Children – and adults – often find that they are less hungry and more energized when they’re well-hydrated; this can lead to more appropriate food choices and portion sizes, and more physical activity, which are the other two links to controlling childhood obesity.
About Water Sensations, Inc.
Water Sensations, Inc. markets the industry’s newest water enhancer, Water Sensations®, as the first clear liquid flavor enhancer for water. All natural and sweetened with sucralose, Water Sensations® is sugar free, calorie free and carbohydrate free. Water Sensations® is available in more than 3,500 stores in the U. S., including Target, Shop & Stop, The Food Emporium, IGA, Big Y, Kroger and more. Water Sensations, Inc. was founded in 2005 by Nina Riley, a marketing executive with more than 20 years of experience in classic marketing and brand management for companies including Philips Electronics, Unilever, Lipton, General Foods and General Mills. Ms. Riley has developed brand strategy, retail strategic alliances, advertising campaigns and joint ventures for high profile brands including Norelco Razors, Lipton Soups and Side Dishes, Wishbone Salad Dressings, Lawry’s Seasoning, Ragu Chicken Tonight Simmer Sauces, Post Cereal and more. She holds an MBA from Penn State and a BS from Ithaca College. More information on Ms. Riley and her company, Water Sensations, can be found online at www. WaterSensations. com.
Bio: Judith Hochstadt, MD
Judith Hochstadt, M. D. is a leading pediatrician and endocrinologist with extensive practice in the epidemic problems of childhood obesity and diabetes. Dr. Hochstadt is a Diplomate, American Board of Pediatrics, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, member of the AACE, (American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists), Endocrine Society, ADA, and NAASO (North American Association for the Study of Obesity). A graduate of Downstate Medical Center, in Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Hochstadt did her internship, residency and fellowship in Pediatric Enocrinology & Diabetes at Yale New Haven Medical Center. Her research at Yale Involved working with children and adolescents on the prototype insulin pump. She ran a Yale satellite diabetes and endocrinology clinci for 18 years at Bridgeport Hospital in Bridgeport, CT. There, she witnessed firsthand the emergence of the obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus epidenic. She is the past vice president of the Fairfield County Chapter of the American Diabetes Association. Dr. Hochstadt is a Senior Attending in Pediatrics/Pediatric Endocrinology at Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT and has offices in CT in Commerce Park, Fairfield, Huntington, Southport, Trumbull and Stratford.
