Monday, October 24, 2011

Teen Violence Linked To Heavy Soda Use

Teenage violence can be very deadly.
A new study from the United States shows that teenage violence can be linked to increased soda use. A recent study in Boston shows that high school students who drank more soda during the day were 9-15 percent more likely to engage in violent acts than students who didn't drink soda. "What we found was that there was a strong relationship between how many soft drinks that these inner-city kids consumed and how violent they were, not only in violence against peers but also violence in dating relationships, against siblings," said David Hemenway, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

The study was filled out by 1,878 public school students from ages 14 to 18. The majority were either Hispanic or African-American; few were white or Asian. It was found that many of the students who drank 14 or more cans per week either carried a knife or gun. Students who drank only one or two soft drinks a week were less likely to carry a knife or weapon.

I personally find this crazy... Soft drinks contain no alcohol or drugs, which can lead to the body not functioning properly. The deadliest substance in soda is sugar, which just makes people hyper. I've never heard about sugar causing people to have violent outbreaks against their friends or family. I even drink soda myself occasionally, and the only difference I notice is that I feel gross after consuming so much sugar. I personally don't think this can be true, but with crime rates rising in the U.S., how could it not be?

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Denmark Now Taxing Foods With Saturated Fat


Don’t you love doughnuts, cookies, butter, milk, oils, pizza, etc? Don’t go to Denmark unless you’ve got extra money for these already expensive delicates. Denmark now enforces a tax on all foods with 2.3 percent or more saturated fat content. When you load up your cart with pizza, milk, cheese and other fatty foods, just be aware you’ll get a surcharge on every single item.

 In 2004, Denmark made it illegal for any foods to have more than 2 percent trans fat. In 2010, the country increased taxes on ice cream, chocolate, and sweets. Only 10 percent of Danes are overweight, so these taxes are obviously working.

 I feel that this is a great idea and the United States should defiantly start enforcing taxes on nasty, fatty foods instead of embracing them. In the United States, over 60 percent of the population is considered obese, which can be a nasty thing. I would really like to see some states creating laws about fatty foods to encourage people to eat smarter and shop smarter. Increasing the price and taxing nasty foods will prevent low-income families from unknowingly purchasing fattening foods.