|
Girls, Cola, and Bone
Fractures --- Got Milk?
In the August 2000 issue of
the California Dental Association Journal there was an article that linked
soda drinking by teen girls to bone fractures. A study was done at Harvard
Medical School concerning the physical activities, beverage consumption,
and bone fractures of 460 9th and 10th grade girls.
In the study nearly 80 percent of the girls reported
drinking carbonated beverages, with 50 percent drinking cola beverages
only. Approximately 20 percent of the girls reported having had a
fractured bone. The girls who drank carbonated beverages had about three
times the risk of bone fracture than the girls who did not drink
carbonated beverages.
The girls who reported
high levels of physical activity and drank cola beverages had
nearly five times the risk of fracture as those who did not.
Now, I don't know about you, but that got my
attention. According to the article, teen consumption of soft drinks is on
the rise while their consumption of milk has dropped significantly. Those
who conducted the study, speculated that the phosphorus contained in soft
drinks may change the composition of the bone resulting in phosphorus
taking the place of calcium in bone.
It is important to encourage our teenage girls to make
better beverage choices. They need to understand how important it is for
them to get at least 3 milk servings a day. And they need to
decide whether that cola is worth the risk of a fractured bone, especially if they are active in sports. Having a teenage daughter,
myself, I know that getting her out of the cola habit is an uphill battle,
but it is one we are fighting and we hope that we'll win.
|
