| MothWrangler 2006-10-15, 4:28 pm |
| Jan Drew wrote:
> 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."
>
Once again, a commentator--Mike Adams--confusing "correlation" with
"causation."
All the study apparently showed is that children with mental health
issues were more likely to drink soda. It doesn't prove cause and effect.
Based on Adam's reasoning, he'd probably think that because there's a
correlation between smoking and schizophrenia, that smoking causes
schizophrenia.
Rather than sugar "causing" ADHD and other mental health problems, the
study may just be verifying the common observation that children with
ADHD and other issues may try to "self-medicate" with caffeine or
sugar--over even less healthy substances.
Nancy
Unique, like everyone else
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