| Jan Drew 2006-10-14, 9:34 pm |
| http://www.newstarget.com/z020585.html
NewsTarget.com printable article
Originally published September 29 2006
Link proven between sugar consumption and hyperactivity, mental disorders in
teens
(NewsTarget) New Norwegian research published in the American Journal of
Public Health has found that teens in Norway who drank the highest amounts
of sugary sodas experienced higher rates of mental disorders such as
hyperactivity and distress.
Researchers from the university of Oslo surveyed more than 5,000 Norwegian
15- and 16-year-olds on their soda consumption habits, then questioned them
on mental health, including questions on hyperactivity and distress. The
researchers found that the teens with the most mental health problems were
the teens who reported the highest sugary soda consumption.
"There was a strong association between soft drink consumption and mental
health problems among Oslo 10th graders," the researchers' report stated.
"This association remained significant after adjustment for social,
behavioral and food-related disorders."
The researchers -- led by Dr. Lars Lien -- found that teens who reported
skipping breakfast and lunch were some of the heaviest consumers of sodas,
with most students reporting between one and six weekly soft drink servings.
Though moderate drinkers were less likely to display mental disorders than
those who drank no soft drinks, the researchers reported clear links between
the worst mental health sufferers and the highest soda consumers.
For example, Lien's team found a direct linear relationship between the high
soft drink consumption and hyperactivity. The more sodas teens drank, the
more hyperactivity symptoms they displayed. Teens who drank four or more
soft drinks per day displayed the worst mental health symptoms, with 10
percent of boys and 2 percent of girls reporting consuming that much daily
soda.
Norwegian authorities recommend that only 10 percent of daily calories come
from sugar, but Lien's team found that at least 25 percent of Norway's teen
boys were getting that much sugar from soft drinks alone.
"One simple and effective measure to reduce soft drink consumption in this
age group would be to remove soft drink machines from schools and other
public places where adolescents gather," the researchers wrote.
Consumer advocate Mike Adams, author of "The Five Soft Drink Monsters" -- a
book aimed at helping consumers kick the soda habit -- calls Lien's study
"the soft drink industry's worst nightmare" and favors removing soda vending
machines from schools.
"[The study] establishes a scientific link between the consumption of
high-fructose corn syrup in soda and abnormal mental states in children,"
Adams said. "In the world of nutrition, we've known this for a long time,
but the soda industry has vigorously fought any such associations, claiming
sodas are harmless. Today we know that simply isn't true."
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