For freshmen, one of the largest contributors to gaining those dreaded 15 pounds is the abundance of sugary drinks in the dining halls. Soda and other sweet drinks can be hard to turn down when you know you’re already paying for it with your meal swipe.
The University of California at San Francisco, a school that focuses entirely on the health sciences, has decided to ban the sale of sugary drinks on campus. The ban does not include diet or zero calorie sodas. They’re the first national university to do so, but according to recent studies pointing out the clear health hazards to drinking Coke, Pepsi and other sugary drinks, they won’t be the last. However, the ban only applies to sugary drinks, and not unhealthy food options.
The ban has spurred a debate as to whether or not UCSF is going too far. They claim the vendors are complying on a voluntary basis, but not all vendors feel that way.
Ali Keshavarz, a chemist who owns a restaurant on campus, claims that he didn’t even originally sell sugary drinks, but the demand on campus was too high. He worries about continuing to sell diet sodas with harmful artificial surgars.
“Those artificial sugars are worse than sugar itself. If my kid had a choice between a sugar soda and a diet soda, I’d want them to have the sugar soda, I know that for a fact,” Keshavarz said. “But that’s my decision.”
What’s you stance, collegiettes? Do you think a sugar soda ban is too limiting or a helpful tool in combatting the battle of the bulge?