Put a Stop to Pop
Taking fewer sips of sugary drinks may help your kids stay slim.
Removing sugar-sweetened beverages from the house helped overweight teens drop almost a pound a month. Keep your kids lean by ditching Dr. Pepper, kicking Coke to the curb, and sending other sweetened teas, fruit drinks, punches, and pops packing. Instead, wet their whistles with unsweetened refreshers like mineral waters or iced fruit teas.
The average child consumes 31 pounds of sugar each year from sugar-sweetened drinks. Enjoying even one 12-ounce soda per day can contribute to weight gain, according to a recent study of 13- to 18-year-olds. Although kids can get high-calorie, low-nutrition beverages like soda, sports drinks, and sweetened fruit or tea, just about anywhere -- from convenience stores, to the school cafeteria -- most teens still get 50% of their drinks from home. Use your power for good, not sweet evil: add sliced lemons, limes, oranges, or berries to a pitcher of water and keep it chilled in the fridge. Also, stock your fridge with noncaloric refreshers like bottled water, or offer drinks with more nutritional bang for the buck, such as fruit smoothies made with plain yogurt.
