By Richard Kirkpatrick, MD

Remember how the State of Washington and various Federal Agencies and Advisories were going to save our children from obesity by banning sales of soda pop in schools (SB 5436)?

The idea was that kids were not only getting fat because of all the sugar, but also that they were getting hyped up by that same sugar.

Instead, the regulations force school vending machines to offer juices, Gatorade, and plain water. Take a look at the chart below to compare these options:

As you can plainly see, Gatorade, juices, and sodas all contain sugar and similar calories.

Only water is significantly different. Water from the tap is free. Water taken in a thermos or exercise bottle is free. Bottled water from the vending machine costs 75¢ to $1.00.

So, common sense (particularly in tough economic times) argues for drinking tap water.* All of the other products below are heavily advertised. You can tell a lot about our kids and our society by their choice of liquid refreshment.

* In addition to it being a smart financial choice to drink tap water, dentists point out another advantage most people don’t think about. Tap water contains fluoride to promote strong teeth and prevent tooth decay. Bottled water does not typically have fluoride added to it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.