Sugary drinks are packed with empty calories, and to cut obesity, we should go back to drinking water with meals, say British scientists. People have gotten out of the habit of drinking water, and giving children water instead of sugary soft drinks would be a step in the right direction in combating the obesity crisis.
Although the scientists stated there were no easy solutions for conquering obesity, they zeroed in on soft drinks. "Choose something else," Professor Susan Jebb from the University of Oxford told the BBC.
"It comes back to simple advice to parents — encourage your children to drink water," she said. "Once they've been weaned, 'children should be drinking water' is absolutely the message. Milk is fine, but that should be the mainstay of our advice."
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Professor Tom Sanders of King's College London agreed. "The problem is people don't drink water anymore," he told the BBC. "I think families should put water on the table, not pop, [which] should be a treat."
The scientists said there was growing evidence that eating large amounts of sugar daily damaged health in ways other than weight gain, such as increasing the risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
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