Hidden fat-maker in a "healthy" drink
As sugar-packed sodas gain a deservedly bad reputation for packing pounds on kids, sports drinks are emerging as a "healthier" alternative -- but for most kids they're just empty calories in disguise, a new study says.
Hidden fat-maker in a "healthy" drink
Sari Harrar
by Sari Harrar
As sugar-packed sodas gain a deservedly bad reputation for packing pounds on kids, sports drinks are emerging as a “healthier” alternative -- but for most kids they’re just empty calories in disguise, a new study says. Yet they often turn up in school vending machines -- and use is rising especially in boys.
Opponents of sports drinks in schools call them “soda incognito”. Now, a Harvard Medical School study suggests they’re comparable or worse than soda in terms of weight gain in teens. The researchers tracked 11,000 kids, ages nine to 15, for up to 7 years. They found that kids who drank a bottle of sports drink daily gained 3.5 pounds every two years. "Sports drinks have an even stronger relationship than sugared sodas with weight gain," researcher Alison Field told the American Heart Association. "I was surprised by that. I would have expected the weight gain to be comparable."
In contrast, those who sipped one can of soda daily gained an extra 2 pounds in two years and those who drank 2 sodas a day gained 4 pounds.
Nearly one in five teens told a 2010 survey that they drink at least one sports drink daily and about one in ten sip two. In younger kids, ages 2 to 11, sports drink consumption increased six-fold between 1998 and 2008.
"Sports drinks go under the radar," Field explained. "The danger is that they're sold as being part of a healthy lifestyle, of being active. Unfortunately, kids don't get two hours of exercise a day, whereas if that were true, there wouldn't be a problem. Sports drinks also come in very large portions, and there's no line on the bottle that says, 'stop here.' They're simply not aware of how many calories are in a bottle."
One problem: Sports drinks are labeled at about 50 calories per serving -- so they look like a lower-calorie alternative. But a bottle contains multiple servings. So the real calorie count is more like 130 calories per 20-ounce bottle and 200 calories for a 32-ounce bottle. Compare that to the most common soda container -- the 12-ounce can -- which contains 120 calories. Kids often drink the entire sports drink container at one time -- downing all the servings and all the calories, the researchers say.
Another problem: Even parents don’t see sports drinks as liquid candy -- which they are for many kids who aren’t involved in heavy-duty athletics. "We need to educate parents and clinicians about what constitutes a sugary drink," Field says. " Sports drinks are promoted by professional athletes as a healthy drink, but they really don't need to be used by kids unless they are continually exercising for long periods or they're in hot climates.”
What are the best drinks for kids? Some advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups:
Start with water, milk and some juice.“For most children engaging in routine physical activity, plain water is best,” says Holly J. Benjamin, MD, FAAP, co-author of a recent AAP report on sports drinks. “Sports drinks contain extra calories that children don’t need, and could contribute to obesity and tooth decay. It’s better for children to drink water during and after exercise, and to have the recommended intake of juice and low-fat milk with meals. Sports drinks are not recommended as beverages to have with meals.”
See the empty carbs. More than one in four parents think sports drinks are healthy for all children (not just for student athletes), a Yale survey has found. But ounce for ounce, sports drinks actually contain 50 to 90 % of the calories found in soda.
Tell your teens that sports drinks are big business. In 2010, Gatorade television ads were ranked among the top five most-advertised products seen by children and adolescents. Powerade television ads were ranked twenty-sixth, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Sports drinks were a $7.5-billion industry in 2008. Drink makers appeal directly to teens via Facebook, Twitter and even a “mobile locker room” that tours the country, touting one brand’s performance-boosting power.
Reserve sports drinks for practices, games, work-outs and competitions lasting an hour or more. The carbohydrates, minerals and electrolytes in sports drinks do help replace water and electrolytes lost through sweating during exercise. They can help out teens and preteens who are active for more than 60 minutes at a stretch, says the AAP and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly called the American Dietetic Association).
The AND has these stay-hydrated tips for young athletes:
- 1-2 hours before event or practice: Sip 12-22 ounces cool water or sport drink
- 10-15 minutes before event: Sip another 10-20 ounces cool water or sport drink
- During event or practice: Sip 4-6 ounces cool water or sport drink every 15 min
- After event or practice: Sip 16-24 ounces (2-3 cups) cool fluids for every pound of weight lost (Weighing your athlete before and after a tough practice seems a little extreme, but experts say it will show you both just how much fluid they’re using up.)
- Watch for signs of dehydration like dark urine, less urine than usual, reduced sweating, muscle cramps, nausea and vomiting, clammy skin, a flushed face, dizziness, light-headedness and headaches.
Ok white knight Bloombomb, what now?
Anyone who has played sports knows that sports drinks (usually Gatorade) is full of sugar (to give that quick energy boost) and electrolytes. But coaches don't tell you to fill up on a sport drink before a game on a hot day, they tell you to drink water. You save the sport drink for during the actual game, and afterwards go back to lots of water. I guess playing video games is more strenuous than football, so you need a sport drink 24/7.— verve- I took a Harvard study to realize that sports drinks had just as much sugar in them as soda? I'm glad there isn't a label on the product that tells you what's in what you drink, oh wait there is. But who expects people to read (unless it's a post on facebook about their best friends sister's girlfriend's brother who sneezed 3 times in a row). Morons, your bus is leaving.— zombieboy_215
- I'm a little confused by part of the study:
they are talking about the weight gain of children over a two year period.
I would expect children to gain weight every year as they grow.
As a high school freshman I weighed about 120.
As a high school senior, i weighed about 175 pounds.
so, I gained 55 pounds in 4 years.
pretty sure it was not due to soda, gatorade or chips.
(I was also about 10 inches taller in 12th grade than I was in 9th.)
how can you normalize a weight gain study over a 2 year period when the kids might be growing like weeds?
and then somehow attribute the gain to soda or gatorade . . .?
seems like a stretch.
— ekw555 - More calories + less exercise = weight gain??? I reject this Harvard math. Someone get me a pill I can take to lose weight without eating/drinking less or exercising more.— HorshamGuy
- Most "sugary" drinks do not contain sugar, rather they have a Frankenfood called high fructose corn syrup, which has many bad effects on humans, but the FDA turns their head and say "show me some more money, so we can continue to say it is fine".— LJM
- um because most of these drinks were intended for people who were playing sports,exercising and burning calories,carbs and electrolytes faster then water can replenish.— Iknowyourider
- In disguise? Don't all products have something called a nutrition label?
I know a wonderful zero calorie alternative to beverages. It's called water, and it's something your body needs. my god americans are stupid.— darbarian - Is this really that hard to figure out? Step 1: Look at nutrition label for calories per serving. Step 2: Adjust consumption accordingly.— Boss76
- So, why then do people still vilify read meat and saturated fats when it is clear that carbohydrates are the culprit?— Shawshank
- Marketing is a business and everything Americans buy is hyped and most buy into it....because we are sheep and we want to be coddled and cared for....to think for ourselves or to do our own research would not fit out lazy lifestyles.....— nuggett
Comment removed.- This study is based on TWO HUGE ERRORS. First, most kids I see are drinking the 20oz bottles of SODA. Not cans. Second, what soda is 120 callories??? 140 coke. 150 pepsi. 162 orange crush. 170 Mountain Dew. grape crush 190... Might want to check the teeth of these kids too...— pagoda
- Yes, these are calorie totals from the 12 oz. can by the manufacturer. — pagoda
- At least 90% of the cr*p being pandered for consumption by advertising in the various media is, upon sensible examination, either absolutely worthless or absolutely dangerous. Of course, the varied media seldom actually do anything proactive about it simply because the advertising is how they actually make their $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
And, Shawshank, no one with any sense vilifies red or white meats, fats, or carbohydrates! (Stick with LESS saturated, MORE mon0-and polyUNsaturated fats, BTW). None of them are the CULPRIT! It is the OVERCONSUMPTION of ANY of them that is the culprit!
Blarney Stone NONSENSE as sports drinks and stupidly fortified water, et cetera, etc., &c. simply exacerbate the mess!
It's all on the order of so-called energy drinks. Frankly, I find SLEEP the BEST energy drink of all!
— BEMiller
