As a group, Canadian children and youth are heavier than at any time in the recent past. However, to date there has been no critical examination of the factors which are likely to have contributed to these deleterious trends. A review of the evidence suggests that there is robust evidence supporting the role of reduced sleep, increased sedentary time, increased consumption of sugar-sweetened be...

With obesity reaching epidemic proportions in many countries around the world, the search for the causes of and potential solutions for this condition continues. It is noteworthy that the increase in the consumption of added or discretionary sugars has mirrored the dramatic rise in the prevalence of obesity over the past few decades. Although certainly not the only factor contributing to the ob...

Globally, soda taxes are gaining momentum as powerful interventions to discourage sugar consumption and thereby reduce the growing burden of obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Evidence from early adopters including Mexico and Berkeley, California, confirms that soda taxes can disincentivize consumption through price increases and raise revenue to support government programs. The Unit...

BACKGROUND Energy-containing beverages are widely consumed among premenopausal women, but their association with reproductive hormones is not well understood. OBJECTIVE The objective was to assess the association of energy-containing beverages, added sugars, and total fructose intake with reproductive hormones among ovulatory cycles and sporadic anovulation in healthy premenopausal women. D...

OBESITY IS A well-recognized major global health problem, and the World Health Organization estimates that there are more than 600 million obese adults worldwide as of 2014. Because obesity is often the result of excess caloric intake, there has been a significant effort invested into understanding how various nutrients (e.g., carbohydrates and fatty acids) consumed in surplus adversely affect ...

Over nearly the past 30 years, U.S. children and adolescents have dramatically increased their consumption of sugarsweetened beverages (SSBs), including soda, fruit drinks and punches, and sports drinks (see sidebar for a more complete definition).6,7 Such consumption has been linked to less healthy diets and a number of other negative health consequences, including decreased bone density, dent...