The Campaign Against Sugar Sweetened Beverages

When you're studying to become a dietitian, you end up talking a fair amount about sugar sweetened beverages. That's the official name for soda, juice, sweet tea - pretty much any drink that's full of calories but doesn't fill you up. SSBs, as we refer to them, creep their way into many different conversations. Should kids in schools have access to them? Should people be able to use food stamps to buy them? Is giving your kid a soda every day akin to child abuse? And now the conversation has entered the public arena with the recent ban on certain sizes of soda in New York City. Whether or not that law will go into effect remains to be seen, especially since the beverage industry has begun to fight back. But regardless, it's gotten the general public, and not just people in the nutrition industry, to talk about SSBs.

My internship director recently passed along this video about The Real Bears put out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. I debated whether or not to share it here; while I agree with the message that soda consumption needs to be greatly reduced in many people's diets, I'm not sure if this video is an effective way of getting that message across. Take a look and then let me know your thoughts!