Rural Alaskans find it hard to kick soda pop habit
Published Sunday, July 20, 2008
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Stumble It!ANCHORAGE -- A survey by the state Health Department finds that residents of rural Alaska are having a tough time kicking the soda habit.
Years ago, health officials declared war on high-sugar soda pop. But the survey finds that it is still plenty popular, with nearly one-third of toddlers in rural northern and southwest Alaska having two or more cups of a sugary beverage on an average day.
In the rest of the state, the percentage is only about 3 percent.
An earlier survey found that adults in rural Alaska drink about three times as much soda pop as adults in Anchorage and Fairbanks.
"When I go to the village store, sometimes there's not a lot there, but you always have soda pop," said Troy Ritter, senior environmental health consultant for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
Some of the villages with the highest consumption of soda pop do not have running water. In about one out of five villages, fewer than 10 percent of homes have running water, according to the consortium.
"Many of the villages that have highest soda pop consumption - probably the majority - don't have running water. Or if they do have running water, it's not drinkable," said state Rep. Mary Nelson, D-Bethel.
Northern Air Cargo flies about 50,000 pounds of beverages a week to communities like Barrow, Kotzebue and Nome, said spokeswoman Margot Wiegele.
That includes some bottled water, but it's mostly soda, she said.
Health care providers have long tried to encourage rural kids and adults to trade pop and other sugary drinks for water in order to ward off diabetes, obesity and rampant cavities.
"Baby teeth are rotting out. That's unthinkable in western society," said tribal health consortium chief executive Don Kashevaroff.
Seven years ago, the tribal health consortium and Alaska Native Health Board sent letters to 500 schools and 600 stores asking them to help curb consumption on soda pop.
In 2003, Nelson proposed a bill that would have stopped schools from selling sugary soft drinks during the school day. It never reached a vote, though some schools barred soda sales anyway, she said.
"Have you ever seen a (baby) bottle full of Coca-Cola? Black?" Nelson asked. "It is not uncommon at all."
Part of the reason that soda is so popular is the high price of groceries in rural Alaska.
Factor in runaway heating and fuel bills, and people in rural Alaska are thinking survival, not self-improvement.
"In a lot of cases it's more expensive to buy bottled water than a can of pop," Nelson said.
Community Discussion
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Atleast its soda and not the alternative!!!!!!!
And this tidbit of information from our state Health & Social Services Department means.....what? Is this a health problem? Will we be making laws to restrict the amount of soda we can ship to rural Alaska? Will we initiate programs for soda pop abuse, soda pop withdrawal or soda pop bottle/can/plastic environmentally safe waste disposal? Perhaps this is just to let us know that we have a lot of government staff doing their job for our public health and they are covering all the bases! You decide!
this is stupid, get a water purifier and drink what you got.
thewayiseeit
That is exactly what the FNSBSD school board did with the wellness policy. They removed all sugar sodas from the schools. Only effect it has had (they didnt think that kids would bring their own) is a substantial loss of funds for the inidividual schools.
well...hmmm...
Nutritionists tell us that pop isnt good for you, sure, but Ive never heard of anyone going on an armed rampage after knocking back a half-rack of cheap sams club cola...
"this is stupid, get a water purifier and drink what you got."
They can't afford that, the welfare check went to buy soda. And of course it's stupid, but as someone once said; "You can't fix stupid."
"they can't afford that, the welfare check went to buy soda"?? okay bogrotter52 i'm sure not all rural alaskans live off welfare.
This article is upsetting. It is sad to see that soda pop is being consumed at such a high rate - most alarming were the comments about Coke in baby bottles and such a high percentage of toddlers who drink soda pop.
This is a health problem that should be addressed.
It seems Alaska is a third world country when it comes to running water. According to the development figures, 20% of the homes in the North Star Borough did not have running water either. (remember holding tanks do not count as running water). Water can be expensive in this borough for those who have to buy it. What happen to the program that was suppose to bring drinkable water to Alaskan communities. By the way, if the power went out for a week or more in Fairbanks, where would you go to get free drinkable water? I wouldn't be telling villagers to get filters, you are not to far removed from this problem yourself. Remember what happen during Katrina and the need for water. This article brings out a problem greater than soda pop.
Free Darfur...what rock did you just heave off yourself to post this drivel?
If anything, those of us with holding tanks or who use 5gallon jugs of water instead of relying on city water will fare BETTER in a Katrina-like situation than those who rely on pipes to bring them clean water.
Those of us who heat with wood will fare better than those who rely on electricity. And so forth.
If you've ever been to the south, AKchic, you will have seen the same rampant consumption of both sugared soda and things like Kool-Aid. It's in baby bottles all over the very-well-watered southern states, so it's not just an Alaskan epidemic.
It is horrific, though.
I am wondering why we don't have rural water systems. It is not like we are trying to retrofit colonial housing from the 1600's. We have plenty of aquifers to support the demand and we are in the 21st Century. Is there a problem with water mains not withstanding the cold?
Oh yes, I'm not saying it's just a problem in Alaska. It's everywhere. Rotting teeth and obesity are not going away any time soon.
Soda is only a profit off the brotherhood. If you want to keep
your teeth buy a tooth brush with tooth paste and buy bottled
water instead! I do.
Is there fluoride in soda pop?
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