Sweet Drinks Put Kids' Health at Risk

According to a WebMD article, drinking lots of soda and juice sets the stage for health problems later in life for children.

The article, which cites a recent study published in the December issue of "Pediatrics," says children who consume large amounts of surgery drinks may suffer from diabetes and obesity as early as the age of 13.

One nutritionist quoted in the article was quick to say the study doesn't mean that all soda is bad — it's just that kids get too much soda too often.

"There is no kid-sized soda bottle, and few 6-ounce glasses at home," said Leslie Bonci, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "So kids get used to drinking soda in whatever size glass they have at home, whatever size bottle or can -- and that is not a single serving, it's a tureen.

"And no child needs to be consuming a tureen of soda," she says.

She also said that soda and juice is calorie-dense but doesn't fill kids up.

"Nobody drinks half of a 20-ounce bottle of soda and says, 'Whoa, I'm stuffed!'" Bonci says. "The kids consume a lot of calories and are not feeling full. So every other aspect of food intake may stay the same."