How do you feel about a medical organization having a "partnership" with a soda beverage company?

The AMA did this a number of years ago. They partnered with Sunbeam, and started hawking their medical supplies (scales, etc.). I dropped my membership at that point, and have never rejoined.

All these organizations are doing is ruining the reputation of physicians and giving the public more ammunition to “prove” that doctors are money-grubbers.

Coca Cola is a major contributor to the diabetes epidemic now covering the US and beyond as the rest of the world adopts our bad habits. Physicians supporting diabetes seems somewhat hypocritical.

The average can of soda has the equivalent of ten teaspoons of sugar in it. It is absorbed and metabolized so quickly that it can cause blood sugar swings that lead to increased appetite and increased eating. It interferes with calcium absorption and causes dental problems.

And the AAFP wants to help consumers make informed decisions so they can include the products they love in a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle by taking grant money from Coca Cola? I don’t think so. I think they’re sleeping with the enemy.

Wow… that’s pretty messed up. But at least we know that coke is bad for us. Prescription drug makers use a lot of their advertising budgets to reach doctors, but most of us wouldn’t think twice about whether we really need the medicine our doctor is prescribing for us.

I am not happy about the alliance, but I want to point out a few things. Coca-Cola makes more than just Coke. I am reluctant to blame Coke for diabetes in America. Some juices have just as much sugar as a coke (I just looked at my orange juice compared to coke and it is exactly the same 27grams of carbs) and I grew up drinking coke (I am not saying that is a good thing) and I was thin and not diabetic. There is so much more to what is wrong with American’s health than sugar in a Coke in my opinion. Would you be annoyed if it was an alliance with Tropicana or Minute Maid?

I don’t like any of these “alliances.” I don’t like if my doctor has ownership in an MRI facility, I don’t like that senior executives in companies choose which insurance they are going to offer employees because the play golf with the senior guy at Aetna, Cigna, you choose.

While Coke’s beverage’s are not solely to blame for America’s obesity, they certainly contribute to a culture that exploits short-term satisfaction while ignoring long-term consequences. The pervasiveness of soda pop in our schools, on our playing fields, and in our homes teaches us nothing about moderation. Coke should be treated as an occasional dessert, rather than as a regular part of a meal. But that’s not how they position themselves, and we can’t blame them for trying to make as much $ as they can. It’s up to our educators and physicians to help us to make informed decisions when media and marketeers have taught us otherwise.

Natural fruit juices at least contain vitamins, fiber, and unrefined fructose. There is nothing nutritious about corn syrup and artificial flavor.

Hey, lets face it. everyday we take a pill and swallow it down with a Coke. all of this just seems natural to me.

@JLeslie I agree that Coca-cola isn’t the cause of diabetes in America. And you do bring up a good point about Minute Maid, although I must admit I’d have less of a problem with 100% fruit juice than 100% not fruit juice beverages.

AAFP says that they will have full editorial control. Time will tell. They are going to be updating the Familydoctor.org website sometime in January. But I have already seen coca-cola side banner ads on the site.

@JLeslie I’m glad you mentioned juice, because I actually would have the same issues. You’re absolutely right that juice contains just as much sugar as soda, sometimes more. Yes, it has vitamin C, but so does eating a piece of fdruit, which has far fewer sugar calories per serving and includes healthy fiber.

Fruit juice has been promoted to us as a health food, and it’s not. A lifestyle cardiologist told me that a quart of orange juice is fully metabolized with all of the calories (about 450 calories, nearly 100% carb) dumped into the bloodstream within about 20 minutes. Compare that to eating an orange, at about 60 calories, and will take longer to consume and metabolize.

An interesting article from last month’s L.A. Times with more information on juice.

@MagsRags Not to mention that parents will give their kids juice to drink and it fills them up so they don’t want to eat a good meal.

@Rarebear calories consumed as a liquid doesn’t supress appetite as much as calories from solid foods. So kids may eat a little less, but between the juice and the food, it will add up to more calories than would have come from a healthy meal without juice.

Thanks @MagsRags. Orange Juice is probably one of the better ones, I would guess grape juice and apple juice are just pure sugar water with little nutritional value. Not that soda is not still worse condering the phosphates in there.

@all by the way Minute Maid is a Coca Cola company.

@Rarebear I agree the advertising is very upsetting to me. I prefer health information not be tied to specific brands or products. I get annoyed when products make health claims also. Like Quaker oats lower cholesterol. I really am curious to know how that study was conducted? Lowers cholesterol compared to what? Eating eggs and bacon? It doesn’t bother me much, because I think oats are good for you, but I just think pseudoscience is out there reinforcing messages that are not really “proven” through real science.

@MagsRags…therefore contributing to childhood obesity. Exactly.

@Rarebear But your originial point was that kids fail to eat their meals because they are loaded up on calories from juice, which is what I find happens to the kids I know, rather than the doubling of calories as suggested by @MagsRags. But, I am sure it does happen that some kids are taking in extra calories by drinking high calorie drinks.

I think being overweight is the biggest problem, not the sugar consumption, but of course they are related. The kids I see who are heaviest seem to be from cultures that encourage weight gain, and the parents are a little off when it comes to how much food (portion) a child should eat. And even what they think is a normal weight for children and adults.

When I think of when I was a kid, we didn’t eat that healthy, but we did usually have dinner at home. I think a lot of children don’t get home cooked meals, which typically have much less fat. My girlfriend and I would come home and split a tunafish sandwich after school, or I had a few cookies. If we went to McD’s for lunch I had a hamburger, small fries, and a coke, this is now considered a young childs happy meal; I was an older teen and this was enough. My husband and I are fascinated that people can drink so much. How can someone drink 32 ounces of liquid in one sitting? We just are stinned that people can drink a 6 pack of beer at night. This is not a comment on the alcohol consumption, but on the liquid consumption.

I really think portion and moderation are the big culprits. And then add in the lack of exercise. More than pointing at one bad guy like Coke or fast food, etc.