Disease Proof

Yesterday, Dr. Fuhrman discussed recent research about soft drinks and obesity. Today in The New York Times, Eric Nagourney has more on recent research into the soda/obesity connection:

Writing in Pediatrics, researchers reported on what happened when they asked a group of teenagers to stop drinking sweetened beverages for 25 weeks — and had nonsweetened drinks delivered to the teenagers' homes to encourage them to stick to their commitment.

The researchers, led by Cara B. Ebbeling of Children's Hospital Boston, found that the teenagers' consumption of the high-calorie drinks went down by about 80 percent during the study and that the teenagers who had been the most overweight had significant reductions in their body mass indexes at the end of the 25 weeks.

The researchers acknowledge that there is little proof that drinks sweetened with sugar or corn syrup play a major role in obesity compared with other foods. But the study says that as the obesity rate among young people has gone up, so has their consumption of the drinks, which are heavily advertised.