On October 6, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) announced its new partnership with Coca-Cola. What does AAFP get from this? A grant "to develop consumer education content on beverages and sweeteners for FamilyDoctor.org."
The AAFP, says its president, looks forward to
working with The Coca-Cola Company, and other companies in the future, on the development of educational materials to teach consumers how to make the right choices and incorporate the products they love into a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Coca-Cola must be thrilled with this. As its CEO explains in an op-ed in yesterday's Wall Street Journal, soft drinks are entirely benign and have nothing to do with obesity. Obesity is due to lack of physical activity and eating too much of other foods, not Coke. His view of the situation is entirely predictable.
But what about the AAFP? Family practice doctors have been telling me for years that it is not unusual for them to see overweight kids and adults in their practices who consume 1,000 to 2,000 calories a day from soft drinks alone. The first piece of advice to give any overweight person is to stop drinking soft drinks (or other sugary drinks).
This partnership places the AAFP in an embarrassing conflict of interest. I gather that members were not consulted. They need to make their voices heard. I hope AAFP members decide that no matter what Coke paid for this partnership, their loss of credibility is not worth the price.
Addendum: Here's what a Chicago Tribune blogger has to say about this.
Further addendum, October 10: As noted in the comments, AAFP members were consulted, more or less. Apparently, they decided Big Food was less of a problem than Big Pharm. Really? How about selling out to neither?
Cross-posted from The Atlantic Food Channel: Nutrition Blog
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honestly i'd rathr have a drink wth a naturl sweetner, aka sugar, than a diet drink wth a snthetc.
oh, and yeh i no how to brush my teeth too. i've got my big girl pants on! and that note has nothg to do wth sugar makng me 'obese'. *rolling my eyes*
Aside from the fact that sweet, acidic drinks are bad for your teeth, the main reason for sugary drinks being unhealthy is that people consume way too much of them. That's just my opinion of course, not the scientific view you wanted.
We also have sugar in too many other foods. For example, are there any PapaJohns pizza fans out there? One of the things that makes those pizzas good is the sugar in the pizza sauce.
By taking Coke's money they are now obligated to a message that isn't in the best interest of their patients but in Coke's best interest. I guess one one to look at it is that since doctors make their money by treating people that are sick then this works out to be a win/win for them...the
Why don't they partner with companies that make whole food juices or organic farmers that grow fruits and vegetables
I stopped drinking soda 8 years ago.
High Fructose Corn Syrup is the enemy of the people.
In March or so, my teeth hurt so I switched to Splenda based diet sodas....a
I lost 30 lbs. within 3 or 4 months.
If you look at a can of soda, you'll probably see that it has somewhere in the neighborho
I like soda - or 'pop' in these parts - but the stuff is just bad for you. At least most energy drinks are vitamin fortified, not that it really gets them off the hook, but Coca-Cola? No nutritiona
Just a couple of weeks ago, I decided to cut my sugary drinks down to one a day, and I've lost enough weight to make a difference in how my jeans fit. As you say, those drink calories add up very quickly.
I would encourage you to read up on organochlo
Aspartame is another one I would strongly suggest avoiding. A measurable amount of aspartame is metabolize
If you must have sweetened drinks, I have found that agave nectar is a good tasting low glycemic index sugar substitute
There is a lot of informatio
In fact, when the American Heart Assoc allowed food companies to use it's "seal of nutrition approvalL" for heart smart foods, family practition
NOW the AAFP is endorsing Coke -- the stuff that can dissolve a nail after a couple of hours?
Yup -- money talks.
The only group with any integrity left seems to the AAP. American Academy of Pediatrics
I always thought that it was telling that all the medical groups show their true colors via their name -- American Academy of Family Physicians
AAP is the American Academy of Pediatrics