A huge, decades-long study involving more than 33,000 Americans
has yielded the first clear proof that drinking sugary beverages
interacts with genes that affect weight, amplifying a person's
risk of obesity beyond what it would be from heredity alone.
This means that such drinks are especially harmful to people
with genes that predispose them to weight gain. And most of us
have at least some of these genes. In addition, two other major
experiments have found that giving children and teens calorie-
free alternatives to the sugary drinks they usually consume
leads to less weight gain. Collectively, the results strongly
suggest that sugary drinks cause people to pack on the pounds,
independent of other unhealthy behavior such as overeating and
getting too little exercise, scientists say. That adds weight to
the push for taxes, portion limits like the one just adopted in
New York City, and other policies to curb consumption of soda,
juice drinks and sports beverages sweetened with sugar. Soda
lovers do get some g