Stop Buying Sugary Drinks and Sodas!
“If you don’t have sugary drinks in the house, your family is a lot less likely to drink them. This is tough for some people who are already “hooked” on the sweet stuff, but breaking away is possible,” says Dr. Katalenas.
(PRWEB) February 26, 2014
Dr. Katalenas, a pediatrician in Austin, Texas challenges patients to stop buying sodas and sugary drinks at the grocery store as part of her 2014 Monthly New Year’s Resolution challenge.
For the month of March Dr. Katalenas is encouraging families to stop buying sodas or any sugary drink. “If you don’t have sugary drinks in the house, your family is a lot less likely to drink them. This is tough for some people who are already 'hooked' on the sweet stuff, but breaking away is possible,” says Dr. Katalenas.
In her book, the Step Up Diet, Dr. Katalenas teaches patients that children may be struggling to eat a balanced diet due to the added calories in sugary drinks. Children who are obese may be filling up on juice drinks throughout the day, causing them to be less hungry at meal times.
As stated in the Step Up Diet, children who don’t eat regularly at mealtimes will snack on an empty calorie snacks such as chips and more juice. The cycle of obesity continues as children learn not to fill up at mealtimes but instead snack throughout the day.
Most boys get 15 teaspoons of refined sugar daily, and most girls about 10 teaspoons -- all from sweetened beverages. That's the most sugar kids should be getting from all foods in any day's time, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
"Getting kids to avoid sweet drinks - sodas, Gatorade, fruit juice, fruit drink - will help them lose weight," says Goutham Rao, MD, clinical director of the Weight Management and Wellness Center at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Even diet sodas pose a risk for numerous health problems including obesity. A University of Texas Health Science Center study found that the more diet sodas a person drank, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Artificial sweeteners can disrupt the body's natural ability to regulate calorie intake based on the sweetness of foods. That means people who consume diet foods might be more likely to overeat, because your body is being tricked into thinking it's eating sugar, and you crave more.
Dr. Katalenas has created a list of monthly resolutions that the whole family can adopt on her website at http://www.DrKatalenas.com and she includes a printable flyer for download that she encourages parents to post on their refrigerator, helping families keep on track in the new year.
About Dr. Katalenas
Dr. Marta Katalenas is a board certified pediatrician and owner of the Pediatric Center of Round Rock. She is a public speaker and author of the book "The Step Up Diet: From Scratch… The Quality, Quantity, and Timing Solution to Childhood Obesity," a guide to healthy cooking and eating for busy families.