People consume a LOT of soft drinks - they get it everywhere, even in their schools.  Over 50% of 8-year-olds consume soft drinks daily, and one-in-three teenage boys drink at least three cans of soda pop per day.

Americans spent over $61 billion on soft drinks. The industry produced 15 billion gallons of soft drinks, twice as much as in the mid 1970s. That is equivalent to 587 12-ounce servings per year or 1.6 12-ounce cans per day for every man, woman, and child.

12- to 19-year-old boys who consume soda pop drink an average of 2 12-ounce sodas per day (868 cans per year). Girls drink about one-fourth less.

In 2000, Coca-Cola spent almost $300 million on media advertising, and the entire soft-drink industry spent over $700 million. Between 1986 and 1997 the four major companies spent $6.8 billion on advertising.

In 2000, 3 million soft-drink vending machines dispensed more than 20 billion drinks worth $6 billion. Coca-Cola Company’s soft drinks are sold at two million stores, more than 450,000 restaurants, and 1.4 million vending machines and coolers.

Pepsi, Dr Pepper, and Seven-Up encourage feeding soft drinks to toddlers by licensing their logos to a maker of baby bottles, Munchkin Bottling, Inc. Infants and toddlers are four times likelier to be fed soda pop out of those bottles than out of regular baby bottles.

Is soda pop a healthy choice for a beverage? Hardly. Each can of "regular soda" can contain as much as two tablespoonfuls of processed sugar. The diet sodas don't have the sugar content but they do contain sweeteners that have been repeatedly shown to be unhealthy.

To summarize, I am convinced that soda pop consumption is a risky business - particularly for our kids, who often drink numerous cans every day.

A can of pop for a youngster, should probably be considered as potentially lethal as a cocktail for an adult. If used in small amounts in moderation neither beverage would seem to make any difference. But, when consumed in excess on a daily basis, you ask for problems. In small amounts sugar, caffeine, acids, and phosphorous are harmless. But daily consumption of soda pop is no small issue. I think parents are obligated to switch their children away from soda pop. What's wrong with water (clean water, that is)?