Did you know that Red Bull Energy drink (both regular and sugar-free) has almost twice as much sodium as Gatorade, a drink that is often thought of as having too much sugar and sodium for kids? Red Bull has about 200 milligrams of sodium for every 8 ounces, whereas Gatorade has about 110 mg of sodium for every 8 ounces.

It is ironic to think that our children are drinking this for "energy" when in reality they are drinking lots of sugar and salt which makes them thirsty, tired and hungry while increasing their risk for obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes!

An article released just this week in the journal Hypertension, Journal of the American Heart Association is titled, "Salt intake is related to soft drink consumption in children and adolescents: A link to Obesity?" In this study the authors found a significant association between salt intake and soft drink consumption among children in Great Britian. The authors state that a decreased salt intake might play a role in helping reduce childhood obesity because it might also decrease the amount of sugary soft drinks that kids want to drink.

To read this important article, please see: http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/51/3/629