From the NY Times article:

“Education matters. If I didn’t believe that, I would have long since abandoned my role as a public health educator. But history has clearly shown that teaching people what is good for them is not enough. It must be accompanied by restrictions that curb unhealthy habits and environmental changes that foster healthier ones.

Cigarette smoking is a classic example. Myriad well-publicized reports documenting its hazards — even warnings on cigarette packs — did relatively little to get people to quit smoking and keep others from taking it up. It was not until smoking was banned in workplaces, restaurants, public buildings and transportation that smokers became social pariahs and millions gave it up. Today only about one American man in five smokes, down from nearly one in two 40 years ago.

Just as the tobacco industry disputed the link between smoking and lung cancer for many years, claiming the evidence was circumstantial and did not prove cause and effect, the American Beverage Association says that there is no proof that sugary beverages are major players in obesity and diabetes.

But why wait decades for conclusive evidence, by which time millions will have been sickened or died from obesity? If there were an environmental threat with even a fraction of the health risk posed by sugary drinks, there would surely be a large public protest.”

As an alternative to giving your kids sodas and other sugary drinks (like Gatorade), try these suggestions:

• real juice (with no added ingredients) mixed with seltzer or club soda
• lemonade/limeade mixed with seltzer/club soda (this should be not overly sweetened with sugar, not HFCS)
• flavored seltzers/sparkling waters (unsweetened)
• water
• water mixed with real fresh mint, lemon, fresh ginger and/or cucumber 
• tea (my son loves Celestial Seasonings Thai Sweet Coconut Chai)
• orange juice (real juice) While it has natural sugars, oj has nutritional benefits unlike soda, koolaid and gatorade.
• milk Milk also has naturally occuring sugars, but can be nutritionally beneficial (but limit chocolate milk because of added sugar).
• smoothies Make your own with frozen berries, bananas, juice, yogurt and/or honey (here’s one of my recipes and another green juice one)