Children's Health Children's Nutrition and Fitness

Sugary Sodas Can Pile on the Pounds

Summary & Participants

An extra can of sugary soda a day can add pounds to your weight each year.

Medically Reviewed On: August 08, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: A recent study says that sugary sodas and obesity may go hand in hand.

MARION NESTLE, FOOD EXPERT: If I were going to tell somebody how to lose weight, that’s the first place I’d start.

ANNOUNCER: According to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, one extra can of soda a day can pile on 15 pounds in a single year. You’ll find about 10 teaspoons of sugar and 150 calories in one typical 12-ounce can of non-diet soda.

MARION NESTLE, FOOD EXPERT: I’ve had pediatricians tell me that they have obese children in their practice who report drinking 1,000, 1,200, 1,500, sometimes 2,000 cal/day from soft drinks alone.

ANNOUNCER: Food expert Marion nestle says when checking labels, it’s important to know that added sugar goes by many names

MARION NESTLE, FOOD EXPERT: You should look for anything that ends with “o-s-e” -- sucrose, lactose, maltose, dextrose, glucose. All of those are sugars. High -- anything with corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, cane juice. The department of agriculture has a list of about 40 different names that sugars come under.

ANNOUNCER: And why is there so much sugar in products like soda?

MARION NESTLE, FOOD EXPERT: Because high-fructose corn syrup is so cheap, it’s in everything. And it’s in lots and lots and lots of cheap junk foods, and so we eat pounds of it a year. Many pounds of it.

ANNOUNCER: As for what to drink instead of sodas, nestle has one suggestion.

MARION NESTLE, FOOD EXPERT: Water. Real simple. Water. Remember water?

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily!