Dr. Claire McCarthy named four habits that parents would do well to cultivate. One of them is:
Don’t give your children any sugar-sweetened beverages. None. Zero. Zilch. Well, I suppose once in a blue moon, like at a special restaurant outing, is okay. But don’t have any soda or sugared juices in the house. They are calories your kid just doesn’t need (actually, nobody in your house needs them).
We have seen how some parents are irresponsible enough to give sugar-sweetened beverages to babies (and then blame the babies!)
Other parents are willing to try anything to keep their kids off sugar-sweetened beverages, including an appeal to the medial orbital frontal cortex, where the brain generates the ability to imagine a future reward and the stamina to hold out for delayed gratification. MedicalDaily.com published the story of the Sarisky family of Montana, in which the parents offered their two boys the “no-pop challenge” — a year without fizzy sodas or sports drinks, not even fruit juice.
The deal was, each boy could either have $100 on the spot and ignore the challenge, or accept it and win $500 when the year ended. Andrew went for the immediate gratification, but 10-year-old Jon opted for the fivefold reward. Just to make it official, the parents wrote up a fancy contract full of legalese, including a clause stating it was a zero-tolerance agreement with no recourse to a second chance.
Before officially starting his year of abstinence, Jon enjoyed one last orange soda. He then spent the year on water and milk only, and duly received his $500.
In “Addiction Model Intervention for Obesity in Young People” which Dr. Pretlow wrote with Carol M. Stock, we find this paragraph:
Here are problem food trigger examples:
— Whenever you have money in your pocket, you end up going to the store on the corner to buy candy.
— When you pass by the donut store on the way home from school, you can never resist getting a donut.
— Whenever your brother puts his soda pop in the fridge, you always drink it.
Money in your pocket, the donut store, and your brother’s soda pop in the fridge are your problem food triggers.
Between them, McDonald’s and Coke have all these triggers covered. Any kid cruising around with money in his or her pocket is likely to roll into a convenience store for a sugar-sweetened beverage, or a fast-food joint for fizzy drink and a couple thousand calories worth of pseudo-food full of mystery ingredients. The best solution, of course, would be not to carry money or a credit card, but in today’s world that is unlikely to happen.
The second trigger is even less avoidable. They are everywhere — the donut stores, the fast-food restaurants, the food trucks, the mini-marts, the vending machines — and cannot be dodged. The only solution is to make yourself a promise and keep it.
The third example, the brother who keeps his soda in the fridge, is emblematic of all unhelpful family members who leave tempting goodies accessible, especially within visual range. The constant cruel reminders are so hard to resist. If someone you know is battling obesity, try hard not to be that troll.
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “The four habits that can keep your child at a healthy weight,” Boston.com, 08/23/12
Source: “Soda Pop Challenge Success: Sixth Grader Gets $500 After Quitting Soda For A Year,” MedicalDaily.com, 01/04/15
Source: “Addiction Model Intervention for Obesity in Young People,” Weigh2Rock.com, 11/10/14
Photo credit: Andy Melton via Visualhunt/CC BY-SA
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