Aussies still obsessed with soft drink

Nutritionists are leading an attack on the empty calories in soft drinks. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

WEIGHING in at 254.7kg, he has earned the nickname Big Kev, but it is not just food that is to blame for the Australia's Biggest Loser contestant's frame.

The nine cans of soft-drink Big Kev gulped daily before joining the reality show were a major contributor, says trainer Shannan Ponton.

Kevin, the heaviest contestant ever to have appeared on the high-rating series, was consuming more than 6000 calories (25,121kj) a day – more than three times the recommended intake for adults.

More than 1200 of those calories were from soft drinks.

"It's frightening just how many empty calories - calories with no nutritional value - can be drunk in a day," said Ponton, also an ambassador for Obesity Prevention Australia.

"Drinking calories leads to calorie amnesia. They (contestants) forget about the soft drinks, energy drinks and fruit juices which all have plenty of energy and are generally laden with sugar."

While a Roy Morgan report released last week shows consumption of soft drink has dropped in the past 12 months, figures still show that 57 per cent of Australians age 14 year and over consumed soft drinks in an average 7-day period.

Celebrity chef and food crusader Jamie Oliver is vocal on the place of soft drinks in our lives, suggesting it is a major contributor to the obesity crisis.

"I don't want Coke to disappear - I think it is a tasty drink and I have a couple each year," said the celebrity chef whose foundations around the globe raise awareness of poor diet and food habits.

"But they've (soft drinks) got to be taxed because governments do not have the cash to deal with these problems. It would be like the way gambling taxes support anti-gambling addiction programs."

Nutritionist Susie Burrell is equally passionate: "Drinking soft drink is a nasty habit and there is no place for them in the diet. The issue with soft drinks is that they are not generally a 'treat' but a food that becomes a nasty habit. Easters eggs are for Easter, cakes are for birthdays but soft drink has no role."

A study on sweetened drink consumption by school students published in the current Preventive Medicine journal recommends parents encourage water and reduced fat milks as drinks as, unlike soft drinks, these contain essential nutrients for good health. Soft drinks should be for special occasions.

"I think 'sometimes' foods and drinks should be just that," said Ponton.

"Not 'sometimes' every day. Parents need to remember to say 'no'. It's time for parents to harden up, do their kids a favor and show some tough love."

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