Harm when children drink too much carbonated soft drinks

This is an automatically translated article.

Carbonated soft drinks are one of the drinks that are loved by many children. However, children who drink too much carbonated soft drinks can experience some unwanted health consequences.

1. Negative effects of carbonated soft drinks on children's health

Carbonated soft drink (also called soft drink, carbonated beverage) is a beverage containing saturated carbon dioxide water, sweeteners and flavorings. Some other products also contain caffeine, preservatives, colorants,...
Carbonated soft drinks are not good for health, especially for children. The amount of corn sugar, cane sugar, and caffeine in carbonated soft drinks is unknown. In addition, the coloring, sour, gas, ... added to this drink can cause many adverse effects on children's health. Specifically:
Additives in soft drinks can cause kidney disease, damage to teeth, affect the stomach and intestinal tract; Children who drink too much carbonated soft drinks will increase calcium excretion through the urine, leading to calcium deficiency, not enough calcium to increase height; Children who drink carbonated drinks every day easily lead to lazy to eat, refuse to drink milk, refuse to eat during main meals, causing serious nutritional deficiencies, which is a risk of rickets in children; Children who drink a lot of soft drinks will increase the amount of fat in the liver and in the bones. Fat in the liver will increase the risk of fatty liver, fatty blood and cirrhosis; The amount of sugar in soft drinks is quite large, forcing pancreatic cells to increase insulin secretion to metabolize sugar. This long-term situation easily leads to insulin resistance - a cause of diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases; Carbonated soft drinks increase the risk of heart disease, easily causing dangerous complications such as heart failure, myocardial infarction, limb embolism,...; Children who drink a lot of carbonated water often tend to have reduced concentration, increased violent behavior (difficulty in controlling emotions); In particular, children who drink carbonated soft drinks can become addicted. Because sugar in soft drinks stimulates the release of dopamine - a neurotransmitter in the brain, making children feel happier and healthier. In the long run, children will become dependent (addicted) to this drink.

2. Measures to help children give up carbonated drinks

In order for children to give up carbonated soft drinks and improve their height, parents should adhere to the following principles:
Parents build children a healthy and scientific diet with a variety of flavors taste in the meal. Parents can use delicious fruit juice or herbal juice to stimulate baby's appetite; Give your child extra milk to provide enough calcium for the baby's needs. Children's calcium needs are 1,000mg/day, equivalent to 1.5 liters of milk. However, most children cannot drink this amount of milk. Therefore, parents should add foods rich in calcium (cheese, field fish, crabs, shrimps,...) into the child's diet; Gradually remove carbonated soft drinks from the child's daily menu. Parents should not forbid children to drink completely (because it is easy for children to resist and drink when unsupervised); Change the family's lifestyle and living habits for children to follow. Do not store carbonated drinks in the house to avoid the baby seeing will demand to drink; Parents should increase physical activities for children outside of school hours. In school, parents should let their children participate in extracurricular activities. At the same time, parents should work hard to communicate with their children, share and listen to all their children's confidants to easily instruct them. Carbonated soft drinks are the favorite drinks of many children, but parents should only give them very limited amounts. It is best not to let the baby know to drink this kind of water because it is very detrimental to the health of the child. In case children have carbonated drinks, parents try to give children more milk or cheese to increase calcium for the body.
For more nutritional knowledge and child care for each age, parents should regularly visit the website vimec.com and make an appointment with the leading doctors, pediatric and nutrition experts of the National General Hospital. Vinmec when needing advice on children's health.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.