A new study suggests 5-year-olds who consume more than 4 soda beverages daily are twice as likely to be more aggressive.
Researchers have warned the public about the negative health effects associated with soda drinking in past studies. Now, aggression, attention problems and withdrawal behavior are being associated with consuming the soft drink.
"Americans buy more soft drinks per capita than people in any other country," Columbia University said in a news release. "These drinks are consumed by individuals of all ages, including very young children. Although soft drink consumption is associated with aggression, depression, and suicidal thoughts in adolescents, the relationship had not been evaluated in younger children. "
The findings were published in The Journal of Pediatrics:
Shakira Suglia, ScD, Mailman School assistant professor of Epidemiology, and colleagues assessed approximately 3,000 5-year-old children enrolled in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a prospective birth cohort that follows mother-child pairs from 20 large U.S. cities. Mothers reported their child's soft drink consumption and completed the Child Behavior Checklist based on their child's behavior during the previous two months. The researchers found that 43 percent of the children consumed at least 1 serving of soft drinks per day, and 4 percent consumed 4 or more.
Aggression, withdrawal, and attention problems were associated with soda consumption. Even after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, maternal depression, intimate partner violence, and paternal incarceration, any soft drink consumption was associated with increased aggressive behavior. Children who drank 4 or more soft drinks per day were more than twice as likely to destroy things belonging to others, get into fights, and physically attack people. They also had increased attention problems and withdrawal behavior compared with those who did not consume soft drinks.
However, researchers were not able to see if eliminating the soda consumption would help the child's aggressive behaviors.
"We found that the child's aggressive behavior score increased with every increase in soft drinks servings per day," said Dr. Suglia in a news release.
