my 4yr old son has had tastes of everything including softdrinks but his fav drinks are... a squeeze of the bottled lemon juice in water and milk lotsa lotsa milk... i cant say he goes totally without all the yummy things in life, like icecream or chocolate...i know i'd hate to be without all my fav sweet things. provided it's all in lil quantities and they still get all the things they need. i really cant see anything wrong with it, moderation is the key to have a good diet follow the food pyrmid and you really cant go wrong there is a small place for sugars and a bigger place for all the good things like fruit,veg, breads and cereals in an enjoyable diet.

my hubby and i are not big coke drinkers, i think the only times we drink coke is if it is mixed with wiskey or something, so not very often, i really have no idea why parents would give there children coke, as i believe it to be one of the worst habits you could give your child BUT.. some parents may give it to there child if there diabetic (the type that needs a quick sugar fix) but generally they give there child sweet lollies or somethinga as they don't rot the teeth quite like coke does, i do know a good use for coke though, its great for unclogging drains, it is a pretty powerfull cleaning agent lol, i'm serious, it really does work, shove some in your toilet bowl and give a scrub you'd be surprised how clean they come up

honestly, i only see it as a problem if you allow it in excess..my children have coke.. occasionally.. and they have other softdrink as well..and they are neither obese nor hyperactive... my son has had some dental issues, but not as a ersultof the soft drink.. but more a result from the lack of flouride in the water where we live.. some  kids simply prefer water/juice to soft drink. this could be because its all they have ever been offered.. or it could be becuase they just dont like the fizz.. that debate could go on for hours..do your research on juices.. you may be surprised to find that a lot of them are just as high in sugar content as the soft drinks..like everything else. moderation is the key.. as long as they are getting more water than soft drink.. then i dont have an issue .

PS i do however have issue with very young children being given soft drink.. coke in bottles is a BIG nono

fizzy drinks can dislodge objects stuck in throats

the fizzier the better(diet cokes the best for this)

intresting info to have if you have i child thats a chocker

so as a drink no iv never given it to my girls BUT my middle child has had diet coke on numerous occasions and some of these have been out in public

things are'nt always what they seem and there may be a reason that the woman at the mall giving the small child coke is doing it.

I had a dietician friend tell me once that no one should be drinking ANYTHING other than milk or water. Apparently the obsession that a lot of people have with flavoured drinks is a huge contributing factor to childhood obesity!

Having said that I have occasionally had people offer my eldest son fanta. Often they were shocked when I asked if they had something other than fanta and that I would prefer he have coke to fanta. My son seems to have some bizarre reaction to something in fanta and would (quite literally) BOUNCE OFF THE WALLS uncontrollably for several hours after he had had fanta!

I think that this is really an individual parenting thing! It is easy to say I would never do that with my child but really if the child that you are talking about is not yours I don't think you have the right to judge!