A Most Disturbing Statistic

In case you haven't heard, kids in America are getting fatter every year. In just 18 years, the number of kids who are obese has skyrocketed from 6.5 percent to almost 20 percent. Two out of 10 kids these days are not just overweight, but obese.

Obese.

We know that eating bad stuff and not exercising leads to obesity. But we're now starting to understand exactly what kids are eating that is causing such a rapid increase in childhood obesity.



According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the average child gets 10 percent of his or her daily calories from sugary drinks like fruit juice or soda.

According to the study, nearly 10 percent of the total calories kids are getting on a daily basis come from soda and fruit drinks.

Using some averages from WebMD, that means the average child is consuming anywhere between 140 and 220 calories per day from soda and juice. That's about one to one and a half cans of soda a day.

No wonder, with the cuts in school physical education programs, and the continued popularity of video and computer games, kids are getting fatter. They're consuming an extra 1,500 calories a week.

Replace just half of that juice and soda with water, and we could reduce the annual caloric intake of the average child by 4,000 to 5,000 calories per month.

Consider that the next time you hand juice money to your child when he walks out to meet the school bus in the morning...and help him have a well day.

Photo via Flickr user poolie