Aggressive Behavior

From VOA Learning English,

this is the Health Report.

A new study has found evidence of

aggressive behavior in children who drink four

or more servings of soft drinks every day.

Information for the study came from

the mothers of 3,000 5-year-olds.

Researchers asked the women to keep a record of

how many servings of soft drinks their children drank

over a two-month period.

The women were also asked

to complete a checklist of their children's behavior.

The researchers found that 43 percent of the boys and girls

drank at least one daily serving of soda,

4 percent of the youngsters had four

or more sodas to drink every day.

Shakira Suglia is with Columbia University's

Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

She worked on the study with researchers

from the University of Vermont

and Harvard University School of Public Health.

She says they found that children who drank the most soda

were more than two times as likely as those

who drank no soda to show signs of aggression.

"For the children who consumed four

or more soft drinks per day,

we see an association between aggressive behaviors,

attention problems and withdrawn behaviors."

The aggressive behaviors included

destroying possessions belonging to others,

taking part in fights and physically attacking people.

Shakira Suglia says the researchers identified the link

after they considered socio-demographic factors

like the child's age and ***.

They also considered other possible influence,

such as whether the boys and girls were eating sweets

or giving fruit drinks on a normal day.

In addition, the researchers examined parenting styles

and other social conditions that might be taking place in the home.

Doctor Suglia says it's not clear why young children

who drink a lot of soda have behavior problems.

"We can't prove that this is a direct cause

and effect relationship, having said that,

there are a lot of ingredients in soda,

a lot of ingredients that have not been examined

in relation to behavior."

A substance often found in soft drinks is caffeine,

which helps to make people feel energized.

Doctor Suglia suggests that caffeine

could be causing the 5-year-olds to be more aggressive.

The research is part of a large study called

the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study,

it follows 5,000 poor mothers and their children in 20 American cities.

Earlier studies of young adults have found the highest sugar levels

in those who carry weapons

and show signs of negative social behaviors.

And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English.