New fat-kids alert on soft drinks

New fat-kids alert on soft drinks
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Health authorities have renewed warnings against children consuming too many sugar-loaded soft drinks because they cause obesity and tooth decay.
The warning was issued after a Department of Health poll found that 51.1 percent of schoolchildren consume soft drinks at least once a day.
The findings were highlighted in the latest issue of Non-Communicable Diseases Watch, published by the Centre for Health Protection.
The poll of more than 9,000 Primary Four and Five students was carried out in 2008.
A household survey by the department in 2005-06 also found many children start to consume soft drinks at an early age, with the amount drunk increasing with age.
It found that more than four-fifths of two- to 14-year-olds consumed soft drinks in the seven days preceding the survey, while 26 percent had at least one glass each day..........