How sodas affect children’s behavior
Most health experts have long criticized soft drinks, carbonated drinks, which are produced by saturating water with carbon dioxide /the process is called carbonation/ and then the resulting carbonated water is mixed with syrups, sugars and other substances. It has now become clear that soft drinks also affect behaviour.
In a new study published in the journal Pediatrics, scientists found that children who drink large amounts of carbonated water or soft drinks become aggressive and begin to have difficulty maintaining attention while performing a certain task. specific activity.
According to the author of the study Shakira Suglia, the idea to do so, came after a study was conducted among adolescents, in which a connection was found between carbonated soft drinks and aggressive behavior.
Suglia and her team analyzed data from 3,000 five-year-olds from 20 major US cities. Every day for 2 months, their mothers filled out surveys in which they noted the amount of soda consumed by their children.
They also filled out a table in which they noted the attacks of aggression and the problems with the concentration and focus of the child in question during games or when performing more specific activities.
Mothers were asked to write whether their child has been shy since early childhood and whether it is characteristic of him to behave defiantly, disobey, engage in conflicts with other children and to break toys.
After comparing all the data, the researchers found that 43% of the children drank one standard bottle of soft drink per day, and this package had a capacity of 250 to 500 ml. and 4 % of children drank about 1 liter of such drinks. All of these children had completely unexpected and sudden attacks of aggression and other unusual behavioral manifestations after the consumption of soft drinks.
And the children who drank up to about 1 liter of carbonated drinks in the earliest childhood, i.e. immediately after their 1st birthday, behaved unpredictably and some of them even became insane< /p>
However, scientists fail to prove the connection between drinking carbonated drinks and the mental state of children. But they still recommend not allowing young children to consume carbonated beverages.
Although the study was conducted in the USA, its results are also applicable to Bulgarian children, who would be exposed to serious risks for their physical and mental health if they were allowed to drink soft drinks.
