

Essay by notathinkerHigh School, 10th gradeA+, January 2003

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Some kids claim that they need a Coke to start off the day. Many students include a soft drink as part of their lunch at school. Or at the end of a long school day, at the soft drink machine, students line up to buy cans of cola. It is also very common to grab a can out of the fridge to drink with your dinner. Does this sound like your lifestyle? See how quickly it can add up?

Soft drinks are more popular than coffee, tea and juice combined. In fact one of every four beverages consumed today is a soft drink. Averaging out to over 56 gallons of soft drinks per year for every man, woman and child.


Regular soft drinks provide youths and young adults with immense amounts of sugar and calories. Both regular and diet sodas affect Americans' and Canadians' intake of various minerals, vitamins, and additives.

As teens have doubled or tripled their consumption of soft drinks, they cut their consumption of milk by more than 40%. People who drink soft drinks instead of milk or other dairy products likely will have lower calcium intakes. Low calcium intake contributes to osteoporosis, a disease leading to fragile and broken bones.

One reason, aside from the advertising, for increasing consumption is that the industry has steadily increased container sizes.

An extra soft drink a day gives a child a 60% greater chance of becoming obese. This is independent from the foods we eat, how much time we spend watching...