Looking at the figures revealed in the Global Dietary Index, it can be said that despite knowing all the disadvantages of soda drinks, the marketing of soft drinks is taking a heavy toll on them. This index has been released on 3 October. While releasing the index, the first thing experts have warned is that these drinks are rich in sugar and there is a risk of increasing obesity and heart diseases. But looking at people's habits, it does not seem that the world is taking such warnings seriously.
According to experts, if you are drinking an average of 350 ml of cold drinks every day, then your health expenses will be an additional burden of about Rs 10 per day. Many countries have advocated increasing the tax on sugary soda drinks. But marketing and the lobby of big companies have not allowed it to succeed till now. This study published in the journal Nature Communication contains data from 185 countries. In preparing the study, data from many institutions in India including AIIMS Delhi and the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad have been included.
In this assessment conducted between 1990 and 2018, it has been seen that soda drinks are being used the most in Latin American countries. According to the data for the year 2018, on average, a person is drinking two and a half glasses of cold drinks. But there is a lot of difference in this figure according to the country. In South Asian countries, people are drinking about half a glass of cold drink.
India is also involved in this. Whereas in Latin America and African countries, people are consuming more than 7 glasses of soda drinks. According to experts, there is so much poverty in many countries that clean drinking water is not easily available and its cost is also high. Whereas cold drinks are available cheaply and easily in cans or bottles.
Cold drinks are more in fashion among urban people, men, youth, and educated people. However, a separate study is currently being conducted on these drinks in children. If we look at the countries, Mexico (8.9), Ethiopia (7.1), America (4.9), and Nigeria (4.9) like soda drinks the most.
The trend of cold drinks has also increased in South Asian countries but on a limited scale. In India, China, and Bangladesh the consumption of cold drinks is less than half a glass. According to WHO, only 5 to 10 percent of the total daily calorie requirement should come from added sugar. We get 50 calories from a 200 ml cold drink.
(PC: Freepik)
