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Questions and Answers
The following are common questions related to the Rethink Your Drink campaign that
you may encounter. We have provided State-approved responses based on the existing
science and research.
Why Rethink Your Drink?
The Rethink Your Drink campaign provides nutrition education and teaches skills, such
as label reading, to help people make healthier dietary choices.
The campaign is helping Californians learn about the large amount of added sugar and
empty calories in popular sugary drinks and that sugary drinks may lead to obesity, type
2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.1,2
There are many causes of obesity. Why focus on drinks alone?
Research shows sugary drinks are the largest contributor of added sugar in the
American diet.3
46 percent of added sugar in the diets of Americans comes from sugary drinks.3
The campaign messages are grounded in the USDA’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans:
“Reduce intake of sugar-sweetened beverages… Sugar-sweetened
beverages provide excess calories and few essential nutrients to the diet.”4
Shouldn’t parents decide what their children drink?
Parents want the best for their children; however, the environment where children live
may not be conducive to helping them make the healthiest choices.
When it comes to childhood obesity, parents certainly have a big role to play. But
parents face a big challenge because sugary drinks are widely available and the
industry spends more than half a billion dollars per year on advertising.5
RYD Questions and Answers 1
Isn’t juice just like soda?
100% juice provides added dietary benefits, but because both juice and sugary drinks
are high in sugar, and can easily be over consumed, our campaign encourages parents
to limit their children's juice consumption to the recommendation of small amounts up to
4 to 6 ounces, and to serve water instead of sugary drinks.
It’s the couch, not the can.
Consumption of excess calories requires additional physical activity for weight
maintenance. For example, a 154 lb. individual would have to walk for nearly an hour to
burn off the calories in a 20-ounce cola.6
The average California adolescent drinks 39 pounds of sugar from sugary drinks every
year!7
Are diet sodas a better alternative?
Evidence is mixed. The best alternative is a glass of water. Clean, cool, and refreshing
water is: sugar-free, calorie-free, and cost-free.
What about flavored milk?
We are dedicated to reducing added sugar in all the beverages children drink. For less
added sugar, offer kids unflavored low-fat 1% or non-fat milk. Adults may believe that
their kids will not drink milk unless it is flavored, but we need to provide kids access to
the healthiest choices so they don’t get used to drinking only milk with added
sweeteners. Water and unflavored low-fat 1% or non-fat milk are best for health, so try
those drinks first.
My kid plays soccer so we give him sports drinks. What’s wrong with
that?
Even when children exercise vigorously for an hour, experts agree that water works
best for rehydration.8
A 20-ounce serving of a typical sports drink has 9 teaspoons of added sugar.
To reduce your child’s sugar intake, offer water before, during, and after exercise.
RYD Questions and Answers 2
This sounds like “nanny government.” Why are you trying to limit
people’s choices?
Our campaign is working to provide people with more choices and providing the
information people need to make wiser, healthier choices.
Californians deserve healthy and affordable drink options where they work, shop, live,
learn and play.
What’s wrong with an occasional treat of soda?
Sugary drinks are not being consumed as an occasional treat. In California, 62% of
adolescents drink one or more sodas a day.6
A 20-ounce cola contains nearly 17 teaspoons of added sugar. That’s why the 2010
Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends individuals limit their intake of sugary
drinks.4
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1. Woodward‐Lopez G, Kao J, Ritchie L. To what extent have sweetened beverages contributed to the obesity epidemic? Public Health Nutrition. Sep 23, 2010:1‐11. 2. Johnson R, et al. Dietary Sugars Intake and Cardiovascular Health: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association. Journal of the American Heart Association 2009, vol. 120, pp. 1011‐1020. 3. Guthrie JF, Morton JF. Food sources of added sweeteners in the diets of Americans. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2000;100(1):43‐51. 4. United States Department of Health and Human Services, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. Chapter Two: Balancing Calories to Manage Weight, page 16. 5. Sugar Water Gets a Facelift: What Marketing Does for Soda. Berkeley Media Studies Group, 2009. 6. United States Department of Health and Human Services, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005, Table 4. Calories/Hour Expended in Common Physical Activities. http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/chapter3.htm. Accessed May 15, 2012. 7. Babey SH, Jones M, Yu H, Goldstein H. Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and California Center for Public Health Advocacy, 2009. 8. UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health. Frequently Asked Questions About Sports Drinks. (2007) RYD Questions and Answers 3