New recommendations released March 25, 2019 by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association call for policy changes to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among children and teens. The physicians’ groups say that education around the potential health consequences of too much sugar—such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and high cholesterol—have been insufficient to curb consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, and stress the need for government efforts to stem the problem, similar to those used to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption. Their recommendations include implementing taxes on sugary beverages and making healthier options like water and milk the default on children’s menus.
Vasanti Malik, research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and lead author of a recent study linking sugary beverage consumption with increased risk of premature death in adults, praised the new policy statement.
“The reason for this call to action is because of the strong and consistent evidence linking intake of sugary beverages to adverse health outcomes,” she told CNN.
Read CNN article: Physician groups call for taxes and regulations on kids’ access to sugary drinks
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