Researchers from the University of Sydney have found that children who drink fizzy drinks may be at greater risk of developing heart disease later in life.
About 2,000 12-year-olds took part in the investigation by the University's Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research. The scientists found that the children who drank one or more soft drinks each day had narrower arteries in the back of their eyes - a factor associated with increased risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. It is the first study to show that soft drinks and carbohydrates in childhood are linked to narrower retinal vessels.
The children, from 21 Sydney high schools, answered a questionnaire about their diet. Digital photographs of the vessels in the back of each child's eye were taken to calculate the average diameter of the vessels. The data from the same children will be analyzed again in five years' time to see if the damage persists.
The Institute's Dr Bamini Gopinath says the results reinforce the importance of a healthy diet. “This is just another piece of evidence to show that fizzy drinks really aren't that good for our children,” Dr Gopinath, a senior research fellow at the institute, said scientists measured the children's daily carbohydrate and sugar intake. “Children with a high consumption of soft drinks and carbohydrates had a more adverse microvascular profile compared to those who did not drink so many soft drinks or eat so many carbs,”
Dr Gopinath said in a statement. Dr Gopinath said. “More studies like this would build a strong evidence base to perhaps bring about change in policy and practice and in the way foods are products are marketed or advertised to our children.”
The study was an extension of another research project which found similar damage in children who watched too much television. The damage does not affect vision.
The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Heart transplant recipient's journey: From patient to advocate