Telling kids how far to run to burn off the calories in a soda made them think twice.

Does the nutrition information on food labels impact your choices? Data on effectiveness of the labels is inconsistent. In a novel trial conducted on adolescents in low-income black areas, researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that when they labeled sugary drinks with information on how much physical activity would be needed to burn off the calories, it significantly reduced sales of those drinks and increased water consumption. This was compared to providing absolute calorie counts or calories as a percentage of recommended.

Study says teens who drank 5+ soft drinks/week had more aggressiveness.

Boston high school students who drank more than 5 cans of carbonated non-diet sodas per week (30% of sample) was significantly associated with more violence with peers, family members and dates, and likelihood to carry a weapon. Even after controlling for gender, age, race, BMI, sleep, tobacco, alcohol use, and family dinners -- heavy soda drinkers were more likely to engage in aggresive behavior. Limitations were absence of caffiene data, self-reporting errors, and lack of socioeconomic data.

PositieTip: Sodas are totally unnecessary for health, add unneeded calories, and may impact negative behaviors. Limit or avoid them!

Banning only soda sales in schools appears to have been ineffective.

Bans on the sale of sugar sweetened beverages in schools have not reduced overall consumption of sweetened beverages by students. Youth are very adept at finding ways to compensate with drinks purchased at convenience stores and other locations. Data from this logitludinal study of a nationally representative group of middle-schoolers raises questions as to the best way to reduce total consumption of these beverages.

PositiveTip: Remember, sports drinks and fruit juice contain as many calories as sugar-sweetened sodas. Water is usually the best beverage choice.

Teens may drink healthy beverages, but they still have too many sugary ones.

Almost three-quarters of 11,429 U.S. teens who responded to a national survey, reported drinking at least one glass of water each day during the previous week. Forty-two percent drank a daily glass of milk and 30% drank some kind of 100% fruit juice. However, 24.3% of teens reported drinking at least one sugar-sweetened soda every day, 16.1% used sports drinks daily, and 16.9% consumed another type of sugar-sweetened drink every day. Diet sodas were not as popular, with only 7% drinking them each day.

PositiveTip: Parents, schools and teens should limit intake of sugar-sweetened drinks and encourage water instead!

Drinking 1 can of soda each day for a year results in 15 pounds weight gain!

How would you illustrate the consequences of drinking one can of soda per day for a year? Last year the New York City Department of Health unleashed a series of posters in a campaign to get people to reduce their intake of sugary sodas. Now they have kicked it up a notch with a wordless 30-sec video that certainly grabs attention! The truth is actually worse. One daily 12 oz. can of soda would result in 15.5 pounds of weight gain in a year.

PostiveTip: Beware of the big gulp, even if consumed in smaller gulps. They have no nutrients, just unneeded calories.

American's are eating three times the cheese they did in 1970!

Food consumption patterns provide an interesting picture of changing tastes and eating habits. The US Department of Agriculture has been tracking food availability since 1909. A wealth of information from these records are now available online. Between 1970 and 2008 cheese consumption grew from 11.4 per person per year to 31.4 pounds--just over a threefold increase! Milk consumption has significantly diminished, while sodas seem to be replacing milk.

PositiveTip: It is not always healthy to follow national trends. Try setting a new trend by consuming significantly more fruits and vegetables in your diet!