Thursday, December 08, 2005
These People...
Lines Are Drawn for Big Suit Over Sodas - New York Times: "In a study published in the medical journal Lancet in 2001, Dr. David S. Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston and an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, found that each additional daily serving of a sugar-sweetened beverage increased the risk of obesity by 60 percent.
The American Beverage Association says that there are also studies that show no link between consumption of soft drinks and obesity."
Be it obesity or eating disorders, these groups, including the lawyers, are taking advantage of a buzz issue. They know Americans have seen a lot of news programs on childhood obesity, and know they will get some level of public support for this effort. What they miss is that many kids do not suffer from these problems. Many kids do not over use the vending machines. I grant the argument that the companies have a captive audience to brand themselves to, but it wouldn't take a long walk from most schools to see them branded elsewhere. When I was in high school, I didn't buy from the machines we had, because they were Pepsi machines, as I remember. I took my Diet Coke in every day. We should not support this effort. Under this line of thought, the lunches will consist only of apples and chicken.
The American Beverage Association says that there are also studies that show no link between consumption of soft drinks and obesity."
Be it obesity or eating disorders, these groups, including the lawyers, are taking advantage of a buzz issue. They know Americans have seen a lot of news programs on childhood obesity, and know they will get some level of public support for this effort. What they miss is that many kids do not suffer from these problems. Many kids do not over use the vending machines. I grant the argument that the companies have a captive audience to brand themselves to, but it wouldn't take a long walk from most schools to see them branded elsewhere. When I was in high school, I didn't buy from the machines we had, because they were Pepsi machines, as I remember. I took my Diet Coke in every day. We should not support this effort. Under this line of thought, the lunches will consist only of apples and chicken.
