Break the habit

Schoolgirls who drink cola are five times as likely to suffer bone fractures
as girls who don’t, Harvard researchers warn in Archives of Pediatric and
Adolescent Medicine(vol 154, p 610). Team leader Grace Wyshak says it’s
unclear whether the phosphoric acid in cola drinks weakens bones, or whether the
problems occur because cola drinkers consume less milk, which provides bones
with calcium. Either way, the findings raise ominous questions about the
skeletal health of a population “that has gone through adolescence drinking more
soda-pop than any previous generation”, she warns.