PREY VENG: Prey Veng Police reported the death 14-year-old boy living in Prek Thom village on August 6 after high levels of toxins were found in his kidneys and his family could not afford hospital treatment.

According to the Prey Veng Police Commissioner, the child suffered from a swollen face and anemia, when the family sent him to several hospitals, including Kantha Bopha Hospital. Doctors confirmed that the boy had kidney problems and needed his kidneys cleared of a high level of toxins to avoid renal failure.

According to the mother of the child, who was a 6th grader at Neak Leung Primary School, she could not afford further medical expenses, so she took her child home on the night of August 6, and he died at home.

She said that her child had started to drink a variety of soft drinks from the age of ten and often hid his habit after she forbade the sugary drinks. She added that her child rarely ate and instead preferred to drink soft drinks.

The police commissioner advised all parents and guardians to educate their children on the harmful effects of sugary drinks and even suggested that they should be forbidden to children so as to avoid another incident like that of the boy from Prek Thom.

According to the American Kidney Fund, drinking two or more sodas or energy drinks a day increases the risk for chronic kidney disease and cause serious health problems. The fund says the leading causes of kidney failure in children are genetics and systemic diseases, such as diabetes.