I heard a shocking statistic earlier this week on the Oprah show. (I know, I said I’m boycotting Oprah, but Dr. Oz was on, and I like him.)

Dr. Oz stated that if everyone stopped drinking soft drinks (that’s “pop” for those of you in the Midwest) childhood obesity and our nation’s obesity problem would go away!

He pointed out that reducing our caloric intake by just about 100 calories a day would prevent the gain of about 15 lbs. a year, and the average can of pop has more than 100 calories. He also said it isn’t just the pop that is the problem, it is the meals that accompany the pop. Studies show that when people drink pop with a meal, they tend to consume a lot higher calorie foods than when eating meals without pop. I’m leaping to a conclusion here, but it felt as if he was targeting fast food meals.

I thought about that for a minute. The only time I allow my kids to have pop with meals is if we are dining out or we are ordering pizza. In both situations, we all consume more calories than when we eat a home-cooked meal. It all makes sense!

He said he doesn’t like diet soft drinks either, but said he would save that discussion for a different day. (Darn!)

I knew pop was bad, but I had no clue that eliminating it could make this big of an impact on our nation’s health!
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Disclaimer: Though I am trying to be factual here, all of this is from memory. I apologize if I have mis-stated any of Dr. Oz’s comments or if I have reported anything incorrectly.

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