[ti:Children Who Drink Lots of Soft Drinks More Likely to Be Aggressive] [ar:] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.55]this is the Health Report. [00:05.54]A new study has found evidence of [00:08.69]aggressive behavior in children who drink four [00:12.37]or more servings of soft drinks every day. [00:16.85]Information for the study came from [00:20.29]the mothers of 3,000 5-year-olds. [00:24.88]Researchers asked the women to keep a record of [00:28.76]how many servings of soft drinks their children drank [00:33.49]over a two-month period. [00:36.39]The women were also asked [00:38.77]to complete a checklist of their children's behavior. [00:42.81]The researchers found that 43 percent of the boys and girls [00:49.03]drank at least one daily serving of soda, [00:53.12]4 percent of the youngsters had four [00:57.60]or more sodas to drink every day. [01:01.29]Shakira Suglia is with Columbia University's [01:05.57]Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. [01:10.45]She worked on the study with researchers [01:14.03]from the University of Vermont [01:17.32]and Harvard University School of Public Health. [01:22.00]She says they found that children who drank the most soda [01:27.44]were more than two times as likely as those [01:31.71]who drank no soda to show signs of aggression. [01:36.35]"For the children who consumed four [01:38.34]or more soft drinks per day, [01:40.63]we see an association between aggressive behaviors, [01:45.21]attention problems and withdrawn behaviors." [01:49.55]The aggressive behaviors included [01:52.59]destroying possessions belonging to others, [01:55.80]taking part in fights and physically attacking people. [02:01.08]Shakira Suglia says the researchers identified the link [02:05.86]after they considered socio-demographic factors [02:10.14]like the child's age and sex. [02:13.53]They also considered other possible influences, [02:17.11]such as whether the boys and girls were eating sweets [02:21.75]or giving fruit drinks on a normal day. [02:25.02]In addition, the researchers examined parenting styles [02:29.85]and other social conditions that might be taking place in the home. [02:35.33]Doctor Suglia says it's not clear why young children [02:40.31]who drink a lot of soda have behavior problems. [02:44.89]"We can't prove that this is a direct cause [02:47.80]and effect relationship, having said that, [02:50.43]there are a lot of ingredients in soda, [02:51.98]a lot of ingredients that have not been examined [02:54.47]in relation to behavior." [02:55.66]A substance often found in soft drinks is caffeine, [03:00.10]which helps to make people feel energized. [03:03.58]Doctor Suglia suggests that caffeine [03:07.26]could be causing the 5-year-olds to be more aggressive. [03:11.62]The research is part of a larger study called [03:15.66]the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, [03:20.31]it follows 5,000 poor mothers and their children in 20 American cities. [03:27.80]Earlier studies of young adults have found the highest sugar levels [03:33.52]in those who carry weapons [03:35.67]and show signs of negative social behavior. [03:39.65]And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English. [03:45.67]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com