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Diet soda has higher risk of obesity than regular

As most of the student body at BHS has noticed, all of the soda machines in the high school have switched to diet.  I’m assuming it’s just another attempt to make us healthy.  I really don’t see how diet soda is any healthier than regular soda.  If they were really concerned about our health, they would have gotten rid of soda altogether.

All soft drinks are linked to obesity.  The more pop you drink, the higher risk there is for you to be overweight.  That’s no surprise, soft drinks are filled with empty calories and incredible amounts of sugar.  What surprised me, however, was that nearly all the obesity risk from soft drinks comes from diet sodas. 

Only diet pops are available for purchase from soda machine.  Photo by Lauren Rosso
Only diet pops are available for purchase from soda machine. Photo by Lauren Rosso

A new study shows that people who drink diet soft drinks don’t lost weight. In fact, they gain weight. The findings come from eight years of data collected by Sharon P. Fowler, MPH, and colleagues at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.  The study showed that there was a 41% increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day.

I found this very interesting.  I was furious when I stopped at the soda machine after school to grab a Mountain Dew, which I had been craving all day, and found that there was only Diet Mountain Dew.  I walked away disgusted, I’ve always hated diet pop.  I’m not the only one who feels that way.

“I was so mad!  Nobody likes diet pop, and it’s not any better for you than normal pop.  I heard it’s even worse.  My friends and I wanted to protest,” said Sophomore Megan Aase.

I think it would make a lot of students happy if BHS brought back the regular soda.  It’s not good for you, but neither are the Little Debbies or chips they sell at lunch, and it is healthier than diet soda.  If the school is really concerned about the health of the student body, then they would change back to regular soda or just put juice or water in the machines.

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Journalism

Articles written by Journalism are stories that have been written by members of the the Journalism classes at Buffalo High School. Follow The Hoofprint on Twitter to get more articles by the Journalism class

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