The excerpt below is taken from The Washington Post February

Last updated: 2/5/2023

The excerpt below is taken from The Washington Post February 27 2001 One very recent independent peer reviewed study demonstrates a strong link between soda consumption and childhood obesity One previous industry supported unpublished study showed no link Explanations of the mechanism by which soda may lead to obesity have not yet been proved though the evidence for them is strong Many people have long assumed that soda high in calories and sugar low in nutrients can make kids fat But until this month there was no solid scientific evidence demonstrating this Reporting in The Lancet a British medical journal a team of Harvard researchers presented the first evidence linking soft drink consumption to childhood obesity They found that 12 year olds who drank soft drinks regularly were more likely to be overweight than those who didn t For each additional daily serving of sugar sweetened soft drink consumed during the nearly two year study the risk of obesity increased 1 6 times Obesity experts called the Harvard findings important and praised the study for being prospective In other words the Harvard researchers spent 19 months following the children rather than capturing a snapshot of data from just one day It s considered statistically more valuable to conduct a study over a long period of time Researchers found that schoolchildren who drank soft drinks consumed almost 200 more calories per day than their counterparts who didn t down soft drinks That finding helps support the notion that we don t compensate well for calories in liquid form pon is harmful to children s health