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Teen violence linked to heavy soda diet: study

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Published : Oct. 25, 2011 - 17:40

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Researchers in the United States said on Tuesday they had found a "shocking" association -- if only a statistical one -- between violence by teenagers and the amount of soda they drank.

High-school students in inner-city Boston who consumed more than five cans of non-diet, fizzy soft drinks every week were between nine and 15-percent likelier to engage in an aggressive act compared with counterparts who drank less.

"What we found was that there was a strong relationship between how many soft drinks that these inner-city kids consumed and how violent they were, not only in violence against peers but also violence in dating relationships, against siblings," said David Hemenway, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

"It was shocking to us when we saw how clear the relationship was," he told AFP in an interview.

But he stressed that only further work would confirm -- or disprove -- the key question whether higher consumption of sweet sodas caused violent behaviour.

The new study was based on answers to questionnaires filled out by 1,878 public-school students aged 14 to 18 in the inner Boston area, where Hemenway said crime rates were much higher than in the wealthier suburbs.

The overwhelming majority of respondents were Hispanic, African-American or mixed; few were Asian or white.

Among the questions were how much carbonated non-diet soft drink, measured in 12-ounce (355-millilitre) cans, the teens had drunk in the previous seven days.

They were also asked whether they drank alcohol or smoked, carried a weapon or showed violence towards peers, family members and partner.

What emerged, said Hemenway, was evidence of "dose response," in other words, the more soda was consumed, the likelier the tendency towards violence.

Among those who drank one or no cans of soft drink a week, 23 percent carried a gun or a knife; 15 percent perpetrated violence towards a partner; and 35 percent had been violent towards peers.

At the other end of the scale, among those who drank 14 cans a week, 43 percent carried a gun or a knife; 27 percent had been violent towards a partner; and more than 58 percent had been violent towards peers.

Overall, teens who were heavy consumers of sugary fizz were between nine and 15 percentage points likelier to show aggressive behaviour compared with low consumers, even when ethnicity and other confounding factors were taken into account.

This is a magnitude similar to the link found, in previously researched, with alcohol or tobacco.

Hemenway said the study had included a couple of questions aimed at taking a children's home background into account, including whether the teen had taken a meal with his family in the previous days.

As it was only intended as a preliminary investigation, the questionnaire did not ask what kind of sodas the teens drank, he said.

"This is one of the very first studies to examine" the question, said Hemenway.

"We don't know why (there is this strong association). There may be some causal effect but it's also certainly plausible that this is just a marker for other problems -- that kids who are violent for whatever reason, they tend to smoke more, they tend to drink more alcohol and they tend to maybe drink more soft drinks. We just don't know.

"We want to look at it more carefully in following studies."

The study, published in a British journal, Injury Prevention, will revive memories of the "Twinkie Defence," a US legal landmark in which a killer successfully argued that his behaviour had been swayed by eating junk food.

The defendant in this case, Dan White, had been charged with homicide. His lawyer's successful pleading led to conviction of a lesser charge, of voluntary manslaughter.

Several studies elsewhere have established a link between very high sugar consumption and lack of social bonding or irritable and anti-social behaviour.

Some diet research has also pointed the finger at the lack of micro-nutrients as a source of aggression, but this work is still in its early stages. (AFP)

 

<한글 기사>

"탄산음료 많이 마실수록 폭력적일 가능성 높다"

美 하버드 보건대학원 설문조사 분석결과 설탕이 함유된 탄산음료를 많이 섭취하는 청소년일수록 폭력적인 경향을 보일 가능성이 높다는 주장이 나왔다.

미국 하버드 보건대학원 연구진은 25일 영국의 `부상 예방(Injury Prevention)'

저널에 발표한 연구 보고서를 통해 이같이 밝혔다.

이번 연구는 미국 보스턴 중심부 공립학교에 다니는 14∼18세 학생 1천878명을 대상으로 한 설문조사를 기초로 이뤄졌다.

설문조사가 이뤄진 곳은 부유한 외곽 지역에 비해 범죄율이 훨씬 높은 지역으로, 응답자 대부분은 히스패닉계나 흑인, 혼혈이었다. 아시아인과 백인은 거의 없었다 .

조사 결과, 한주에 설탕이 함유된 탄산음료를 전혀 마시지 않거나 1캔을 마신 응답자 가운데서는 총이나 흉기를 소지한 사람의 비율이 23%, 만나는 이성에게 폭력 을 행사한 사람이 15%, 또래에게 폭력을 행사한 사람이 35%로 나타났다.

이에 비해 한주에 14캔을 마신 응답자 가운데서는 그 비율이 각각 43%, 27%, 58 %로 보다 높게 나타났다.

전체적으로 매주 5캔 이상을 마시는 학생들은 그보다 적게 섭취하는 학생들에 비해 폭력을 저지를 가능성이 9∼15%포인트 높았다.

이번 연구를 주도한 데이비드 헤멘웨이 교수는 "이번 연구를 통해 아이들이 마시는 탄산음료의 양과 폭력성간에 깊은 관련성이 있다는 것을 발견했다"고 밝혔다.

그러나 그는 "둘 사이에 왜 이런 연관성이 나타나는지는 알 수 없다"며 "가벼운 효과 때문일 수도 있고 다른 문제 때문일 수도 있다"고 말했다.

연구진은 이번 조사는 예비조사 차원에서 이뤄진 것으로, 다량의 탄산음료 섭취 가 폭력적인 행동을 유발하는지를 확인하기 위해선 추가적인 연구가 필요하다고 강조했다.