Ban On School Soft Drinks

24 April 2006

One drink containing sugar each day has been shown in females to be associated with an 80% increase in the risk of acquiring diabetes.

Kidney Health Australia today backed moves by the Victorian Government to ban sugar laden soft drinks at schools and called for other State Governments to adopt a similar policy nationally.

This would mean the removal of some soft drinks from school tuck shops and vending machines on school property.

Ms Anne Wilson, Chief Executive of Kidney Health Australia said: "The organisation six months ago had requested the Federal Government to consider running a national "DRINK WATER CAMPAIGN" as part of a coordinated health program to target obesity and diabetes which act as significant triggers for kidney disease.

"We are supportive of any move which will assist the prevention of kidney disease in Australia which is spiralling out of control."

Dr Tim Mathew, Medical Director of Kidney Health Australia said: "Research in the United States has shown one drink containing sugar each day has been shown in females to be associated with an 80% increase in the risk of acquiring diabetes.

"Sugar sweetened drinks are now the principal source of added sugars in the diet of Americans with a similar trend occurring in Australia through an increasingly higher demand for fizzy drinks in the Australian market.

"One reason for the higher rate of kidney failure among obese patients might be that they are more likely to develop diabetes and hypertension. Another reason is that obesity places more metabolic demand on the kidneys, forcing them to work harder.

Simply put "As the person gets bigger, hyper- filtration occurs and this over filtration is what destroys the kidneys," Dr Mathew said.

The remarkable increase in the frequency of obesity in Australia in the last 20 years seems to be one of the contributors to the continuing epidemic of kidney failure leading to an over 6% annual increase in the number of people on Australian dialysis programs.

Dr Mathew said that water is a healthier drink than artificial soft drinks that are usually high in sugar, sweeteners, additives and caffeine.

"We believe Australia should have a national Drink Water program aimed at increasing water consumption by children aged one to twelve to combat the hundreds of millions of dollars which are spent urging children to drink sugar laden soft drinks," Dr Mathew said.

Enquiries: Anne Wilson CEO Kidney Health Australia Mobile: 0400 165 391

Ron Smith Corporate Media Communications Kidney Health Australia (03) 9818 5700 Mobile: 0417 329 201