We all know that soda is bad for you. We hear it all the time. It rots your teeth, it leads to obesity and a host of other problems. Yet, soda still sells at a record keeping pace. It is so easy to understand how bad for you it is, but staying away from it is another problem entirely.
My husband and I decided that we would keep soda out of our home and away from our kids. Soda really has no benefit to us or our children. We have decided we won’t allow them to drink it until them until they are older. These are the 5 reasons why you shouldn’t allow your kids to drink soda.
1. Soda is horrible for their dental health and your wallet
I have had far more cavities than I would like to admit during my lifetime. I am positive most of those cavities are due to soda and sugary foods. Soda is terrible for your teeth and it sticks to them like crazy.
I have a co-worker who allows his kids to have 20 oz sodas all the time. He told me a week ago that his 6 year old had 8 cavities. That is insane. If that is not a warning to get your kids off soda, I don’t know what is. I would prefer my kids never have to suffer through having a filling if possible.
If you have limited dental insurance or no dental insurance, dental work can really add up and put a dent in your wallet. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather go on a family vacation than pay for dental work.
2. Soda Helps Lead to Childhood Obesity
Did you know most people’s caloric requirement is around 1500-2000 calories a day? If you drink one 20 oz bottle of soda you have used up about 1/10th of your caloric requirements on soda. Is that really worth it? Soda also helps raise the rate of obesity in children. I don’t know any parent who wants that for their child.
3. Soda is Addictive
Soda is highly addictive because of the amount of sugar it has in it. I hear people say all the time that they crave a soda or candy. Why? This is because they are completely addicted to the sugar in those foods. Studies have shown that the sugar in these items is just as addictive as some drugs. Read this article and you be the judge. Either way, soda is not good for your children’s health and they are far too young to be addicted to it.
4. The Caffeine in Soda Disrupts Their Sleep
I eliminated soda from my diet as I work on healthy habits. I am a former soda junkie, but I am determined that my kids will not be. I had a cola the other day, and that night I had a horrible time falling asleep. It was awful and I couldn’t figure out why I was so wide awake. Then it hit me, it had to be the soda and the caffeine in it. The majority of the time that I had avoided soda and I was regularly working out I found it easy to fall asleep. That night I drank the soda I had a terrible time falling asleep. I don’t want my kids to have trouble falling asleep because of the sugar and caffeine in soda.
5. Do You Want Your Child to Drink Liquids That Cleans Car Batteries?
Have you heard that sodas can clean calcium off faucets and toilets, rust off metal and acid off car batteries? If not, check out this video. You would think soda’s cleaning abilities would be a deterrent to keep us all from drinking soda, but it’s not. If you really think about it though, if soda can clean away those types of buildup, what does it do to our bodies? What will it do to our children’s bodies? I’m just not willing to take the risk with them.
I know there are many parents that believe letting kids have soda is not that harmful to them. I disagree. I think the longer we keep soda from our kids, the better chance they will have of avoiding it altogether. There are plenty of great alternatives they can consume instead that are better for their teeth, health, and sleep.
Raising kids is so difficult. We all want to do right by them. Need a little help managing it all? Check out these posts.
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