Would you ban your kids from drinking sugary beverages?

Have you ever considered banning your children from drinking sugary beverages such as fizzy soft drinks, fruit juice or sweet dairy blends? Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young believes that parents should try and avoid giving their kids these types of drinks. Commenting on her report, the Health of Queenslanders 2012: Advancing Good Health, Ms Young said that the rising obesity rates suggest that we are currently "failing our children abysmally". She attributes sweet beverages as being one of the leading causes for the increase in obese and overweight kids. "My message today to any parent listening is if you can only do one thing to improve the health of your children, at least cut back on the consumption of sugary drinks," Ms Young said. "Many parents think fruit juice is a healthy alternative, but it is a poor substitute for whole fruits and is loaded with kilojoules. The high acidity level masks the fact that fruit juice has about as much sugar as soft drink." Whether you would impose a complete ban or not, this report does serve as a reminder to parents that soft drinks should be consumed in moderation. However some of you may find it difficult to hydrate your kids if they do not like drinking plain water. Fortunately there are some sweet, healthy alternatives that are tasty yet contain little or no sugar. This is because they use Stevia, a healthy sugar that is high in flavour yet low in calories. Use our 'drink recipes' tab or find some of the delicious options you can have for your little ones using a natural sweetener. You will find some examples here such as sugar-free lemonade, iced tea and fruit smoothies. Alternatively check out our new range of 1Cal drinks which look, and taste, like a soft drink but provide none of the nasties associated with soft drinks. 1Cal is made by an Australian company and we should all be supporting their efforts to improve the life of our kids. Another tip to hydrate your kids is to use a low-calorie cordial instead with water instead of pure fruit juice.