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Study Links Soda Consumption, Obesity
A recently released study of more than 40,000 California residents directly links consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages with obesity, the Ventura County Star reports. Based on interviews with 4,000 adolescents and 43,000 adults conducted by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the study finds that 10.7 million California residents drink at least one soda or sugar-sweetened beverage per day. Specifically, 41 percent of young children ages 2 to 11, 62 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 17 and 24 percent of adults in California drink at least one sugar-sweetened beverage per day. Moreover, the data reveals that adults who consume one or more such beverages are 27 percent more likely to be overweight than those who do not, regardless of ethnicity and income. However, the data reveals that, regardless of geographic location, individuals who consume the greatest amount of soda “suffer disproportionally from obesity and overweight.” Robert K. Ross, M.D., president and chief executive officer of The California Endowment, notes that it “clearly shows the very serious health risks of drinking soda and other sweetened beverages.” He also believes that policy-makers should “read this report closely and think about what they can do to combat the obesity epidemic that is clearly tied to consuming too many sodas.” However, the senior vice president for science policy at the American Beverage Association, Maureen Storey, Ph.D., contends that, although the study draws a link, there is “not a cause-effect relationship between soda consumption and obesity.” She suggests that “soda has been unfairly demonized” and notes that consuming too many calories from anything without burning it off can lead to weight gain. Meanwhile, the Ventura County Star notes that the report’s release has prompted state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) to call for a hearing by the Select Committee on Obesity and Diabetes to discuss the soda-obesity link with plans to assemble the committee in November, American Diabetes Month (Lamb Gregory, Ventura County Star, 9/17/09; UCLA Center for Health Policy Research release, 9/17/09; Babey et al., UCLA Center for Health Policy Research report, September 2009).