Drinking Soda May Make Your Child More Violent and Aggressive

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Mary Fischer 22 hours ago

Soda, or should I say sugar water, is already horrible for our kids in about a gazillion different ways. It can rot their teeth. It makes them all hyper and unruly. And it's loaded with empty calories and caffeine and chemicals and all sorts of disgusting stuff.

But if that isn't enough to convince parents that their kids shouldn't be drinking it, a new study from the Journal of Pediatrics says soda may make kids more violent and prone to aggressive behavior.

The research was conducted at Columbia University, and moms of 5-year-olds were asked how much soda their kids drink.

Half of the moms reported their kids drinking at least one soda per day, and 1 in 25 kids consumed four sodas per day. (Seriously?)

And guess what? The ones who had four per day were found to be more than twice as likely to physically attack others, get into fights, and destroy personal belongings than the kids who drank stuff other than soda.

So there you have it. Not only is soda detrimental to your child's health, it also has the potential to make him a little monster.

My son is seven, and he's never had one single sip of soda. And I plan on doing everything in my power to keep things that way until he's much, much older -- hopefully until he's a teenager (at which point soda will probably be the least of my concerns as far as what he's drinking goes.)

And I have to admit -- when I heard that there are 5-year-olds out there drinking it? I was more than a little appalled. What parent in their right mind gives a child that young soda? I hate to be judgy, because there are a whole host of other treats I allow my child to have -- but soda? For some reason, it just seems so much worse to me than other sweets. Maybe it's because it's carbonated. Or maybe it's because it's a liquid and gets into their bloodstream faster than cookies or cake. Whatever the case, as far as my kid is concerned, soda is the devil -- something I don't want him getting mixed up with and turning into a mean little hyperactive, aggressive animal.

Hopefully after hearing about this study, more parents who do allow their children to drink it will think twice and fill up their kids' cups with something else. (How about water? There's a thought.)

Do your kids drink soda?

Image via -Marlith-/Flickr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mary Fischer

is the writer behind The Mommyologist, and the mom of a future famous comedian. Her current loves include cosmopolitans, reality TV, and shoes that don't pinch her feet.

More
?