The Commons Cafe sells various beverages, including soda and sugary drinks. These sugary drinks and soda lead to health and behavior concerns. This causes concern because, in a poll of 93 UPrep students, on average, students drink 1 to 2 drinks per day. 

This poll also asked what are students’ favorite drinks in which the top 5 voted favorite drinks contained 20 to 50 grams of sugar. On the contrary, though, these drinks also help students get through the day. 

“Sugary drinks help students stay focused during school by giving students more energy to make it through the day. For me, sugary drinks help me get more energy after PE to make it through the rest of my classes,” eighth grader Colin Harrison said.

Another opinion about how sugary drinks help students is from eighth grader Tillman Seide. 

“For some students, having a sugary drink that contains caffeine in the morning helps them be more awake and get ready for their classes,” Seide said. 

On the other hand, these sugary drinks and sodas bring up health concerns about the amount of sugar and artificial sweeteners in these drinks.

 According to a research paper written by Harvard, “Kids aged 2-18 should consume less than 25 grams of added sugar per day.” This paper also states that “consuming foods and beverages high in added sugars during childhood is linked to the development of risk factors for heart disease.”

Also, the immediate effects of sugary drinks during the school day can cause problems. 

“Sometimes, if students have too many sugary drinks the sugar can lead to students having mood swings which affects their learning and social interactions,”  Tillman Seide said.

Lastly, another statistic was UPrep students’ favorite drinks. The top five are chocolate milk, Arizona Tea, Sunny D,  Sparkling Ice, and Snapple.