CUTTING down on fizzy drinks really does help prevent childhood obesity, a study of 650 schoolchildren in the UK has shown. The results could intensify calls in the US and elsewhere for schools to ban soft-drinks dispensers.
In the study, half the children attended hour-long lessons urging them to “ditch the fizz” and drink water or diluted fruit juice instead. The other half were left to carry on as normal. A year later, the number of overweight or obese children in the “ditch the fizz” group had fallen very slightly, whereas in the other group it increased by 8 per…
