To stop my daughter drinking Coke Zero

[MumsForPresident]

Hi all so I just need some advice. My DD who's 14 (in my opinion) drinks way too much Coke Zero. She spends about a £1.15 every day (sometimes gets 2 bottles) on a 500ml bottle of coke. I personally think this is far too much and she needs to stop because of all the negative impacts and the potential risk of type 2 Diabetes.

She disagrees with me and says it's only 500ml (sometimes 1l) of coke a day but I still think it's too much as she doesn't drink water until the weekend and even then she is still drinking coke. We have stopped buying it but she still brings into the house. To be fair, she does have a pretty healthy diet, it's just the coke that worries me

Am I being unreasonable to think that she needs to change her choice of drink and become more healthy?

I disagree with some posters and think you can police this. Health is important. You can sit her down and explain the dangers and your concerns and then put in some sanctions if she disobeys. She's still a child and probably thinks as there's no sugar in it it's fine.

Weight gain? It's about 2 calories a bottle!

Coca-Cola is a vile company, she should do some reading.

I think the poster means the weight gain that has been linked to artificial sweeteners, rather than the calories in the bottle.

https://time.com/collection/guide-to-weight-loss/4859012/artificial-sweeteners-weight-loss/

You genuinely think it's a good idea to start sanctioning a 14yo for drinking a soft drink?

I agree it’s too much & it’s so bad for you. What can you do if she’s buying it though? Just educate her and hope it’ll wear off.
I have to say I poured my DC’s Monster drunk down the sink as j was appalled at the sugar content - I asked them if they really knew what was in it etc and poured the rest of it away. They don’t drink it any more thankfully.
I used to like a Diet Coke on occasion but then I got reflux so that was the end of that! I never bought fizz other than Appletiser as a treat on a weekend until DCs were older so def not grown up w fizz!!

Tell her to read Ultra Processed People. Whether it's the sugar or Diet version of coke is irrelevant. (In fact sugar version is 'better'). It will put her off drinking fizzy drinks for life.

My understanding is that the damage with artificial sweetners (apart from that they taste awful) is that they prepare the body for sugar, so the body acts as if sugar is on the way and prepares itself in the same way as it would if there was sugar and that can cause/contribute to health problems in a similar way to if you were eating sugar.

It also maintains a desire for sweetness, which is ever increasing because sweetners are hyper sweet, not a natural sweet.

I dont touch them and havent fo ryears, but there is a constant discussion in this house about my OH drinking this stuff, in his case its diet coke, constantly, cans and bottles of the stuff, our recycling bin is full of it. He is about a stone overweight and also has type 2 diabetes so should be eating fresh healthy food, which he doesnt. He has awful awful gut problems, largely because the diabetes medication he is on gives him terrible gut issues and I think the coke doesnt help

It has no sugar so it won't give her diabetes - honestly a 14 year old having one coke a day is so bloody far from an issue.

Pretty much everyone I know who is addicted to diet sodas are massively overweight. They have been shown to cause metabolic disease which is going to be the big killer in the coming decades as so closely linked to Ultra processed foods.

I think I became addicted to diet coke when I was anorexic, 25 -30 years ago. I've recovered but I've never been overweight. In other ways I am quite healthy but I drink way too much diet coke.
Luckily my DC have much healthier habits than me and mainly drink water

Obviously, but some things are worse than others.

Y'all can't band around claims without being able to demonstrate peer reviewed research to back it up

A link to time magazine article is not proper evidence.

The phosphoric acid in brown fizzy drinks can be a bit harsh, so if my kids are after fizzy drinks I try to steer them towards something that doesn't have it. But it's not a hill I want to die on.

I'm neither endorsing nor condemning the theory about artificial sweeteners, I was simply using the article to show what the poster was driving at (rather than calories).

Yes.

This is a red herring, overweight people have been shown to eat more as they think the diet drink is healthier, cancels the rest of the meal out, or otherwise "gives" them extra calories to use, so they eat more. The drink itself doesn't put weight on you. The behaviour around its use can and does.

Georgarina I didn’t say ‘harp on’ I said ‘mention it’ as I make the comment, then leave it be.

A teenager probably wont give a shit anyway, they will have to wait for something drastic to happen before they change their ways.

This is pretty damning for Ultra Processed foods. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=ultra+processed+foods+and+health&oq=ultra+processed+foods+#d=gs_qabs&t=1685003870252&u=%23p%3DMmVegREzjD0J obviously more research is needed but all the more recent studies are worrying. I take fads with a massive pinch of salt (insert joke about sodium risks). Obviously more data is required But given that these sorts of foods have only been really around since the 70s well any just beginning to see the impact on long-term consumption.

OP, sometimes the parenting works best in teens by planting the seeds of ideas, letting them germinate subconsciously in their minds, and waiting for them to ruminate and make their own well informed choice.

Just remind her, here and there, in the passing and conversationally, about e.g. acid damage to teeth rather than giving orders/instructions or doing anything concrete to 'stop' her.
She may wake one sunny day and decide that she's going to be healthier, and that will include cutting down on those drinks. Teens like to make their own choices.

(If I read the phrase "pick your battles one more time" I think I'll chuck my phone out if the window🙄)

Your comment seems to imply this is conscious a conscious thought and conscious behaviour. I don’t think this is thought to be the case. These drinks essentially trick our bodies by not delivering the sugar that our bodies anticipate from the taste. The body then seeks out the missing sugar elsewhere. Appetite is mostly out of our conscious control, just like thirst.

It's way too much for a kid. Until she's 18, you are the one to guide her eating habits and you are right to tell her it's too much. However, tread carefully! Teenagers do love to rebel and always think they know best!! It's more about educating her on why you will not allow her to drink this much, and helping her decide to make healthy choices.

I'm an adult. I drink far far too much coke, coffee etc... But it's my own choice. I'm an adult so if I destroy my own body that's one thing! But children are not old enough to make those choices. As a parent it's fine to say no.

(To be fair though, at least it's not cider!! At 14 I was drinking waaay too much of that down the park!)

Im addicted to Coke Zero but I've managed to cut down from 5 or 6 cans a day !!!! to 2 cans a day....

I have to agree with this. I don't know if it is the drinks themselves or something in them but they are very addictive.

It's terrible for teeth.