How Children Get Hooked on Sugary Drinks

How Children Get Hooked(ho͝okt) on Sugary(ˈSHo͝ogərē) Drinks

Misleading(ˌmisˈlēdiNG) marketing and labeling may confuse parents about the health value of many juices(jo͞os), a new report finds.

By Andrew(ˌandro͞o) Jacobs(jākäps)

Slave(slāv) to your sweet tooth? Researchers say the predilection(ˌpredlˈekSH(ə)n, ˌprēdlˈekSH(ə)n) for sweetened(ˈswētn) drinks — a major driver of the nation’s obesity(ōˈbēsədē) crisis(ˈkrīsis) — begins in childhood. That’s one reason health experts recommend children under 2 never be given fruit juice. When it comes to children 2 to 18, the American Academy(əˈkadəmē) of Pediatrics(ˌpēdēˈatriks) recommends a daily limit of 25 grams(gram) of sugar, or six teaspoons(ˈtēˌspo͞on).

Nice try.

Last year, nearly two-thirds of the $2.2 billion in beverages(ˈbev(ə)rij) marketed to children contained added sweeteners, according to a report released last week by the Rudd(rəd) Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut(kəˈnedəkət).

At a time of mounting(ˈmountiNG) childhood obesity, food and beverage giants like Coca-Cola, Kraft(kraft) Heinz(hīnts) and Harvest(ˈhärvəst) Hill(hil) spent nearly $21 million last year advertising(ˈadvərˌtīziNG) sugary drinks to children. Although beverage companies have been developing healthier options like blends(blend) of juice and water, the report found that the packaging and marketing of these products often leaves parents confused.

Another problem, the center found, is that drinks made with 100 percent fruit juice and those devoid(dəˈvoid) of wholesome(ˈhōlsəm) ingredients(iNG-,inˈgrēdēənt) are often sold side by side in supermarket aisles(īl).

Some of the confusion is intentional(inˈtenCHənl). Labels on drinks that contain no fruit juice are frequently splashed(splaSH) with images of apples, oranges and grapes(grāp), and many tout(tout,to͞o) prodigious(prəˈdijəs) amounts of vitamin(ˈvītəmən) C. Others shout “no added sugar” on the front but bury(ˈberē) any mention(ˈmenCHən) of artificial(ˌärdəˈfiSHəl) sweeteners in fine print on the back.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/health/drinks-sugar-children.html