Sugary Drinks Aren't A Healthy Choice

I am not a big fan of empty calories. I abstain from drinking or eating anything that has calories that doesn't contain at least one essential nutrient. So, for the most part, I was pleased to see that Mayor Bloomberg put his seal of approval on the NYC Health Department's ad campaign against sugary drinks. In the past, the NYC Health Department ran ads "that showed soda turning to blubber as it tumbled from a bottle into a glass." The current ad campaign shows the sugar being poured into the drinks, and the fat overflowing excessively from the drink. I applaud the use of graphic images to communicate the truth in a way that discourages unhealthy behavior. I am glad to see ads that are based on the simple principle that people can change. According to the NYC Health Department, "the proportion of New York City adults consuming one or more sugary drinks each day declined by about 12% between 2007 and 2009." For encouraging such a successful ad campaign, Mayor Bloomberg deserves applause. It is undeniable that unhealthy behaviors can successfully be discouraged.

I look forward to seeing other sources of empty calories given the same approach, and less attention given to general categories such as "sports drinks" and "fruit punch," when many drinks in these categories are fortified with vitamins or minerals.

Let's not limit this to diet, though. I look forward to hearing that, decades from now, the decline of breast cancer in NYC can be attributed to Mayor Bloomberg's ad campaigns, because he let the women of New York know that having their first child before the age of thirty decreased their risk of getting breast cancer, and that according to the American Cancer Society, "women using oral contraceptives (birth control pills) have a slightly greater risk of breast cancer than women who have never used them." I look forward to seeing the NYC Health Department communicate how disgusting the termination of a preborn child is.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2010/pr036-10.shtml
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/DetailedGuide/breast-cancer-risk-factors