ATLANTA — Half of Americans drink a soda or sugary beverage each day — and some are downing a lot. One in 20 people drinks the equivalent of more than four cans of soda each day, even though health officials say sweetened beverages should be limited to less than half a can.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the figures Wednesday in a report said to be the government’s first to offer national statistics for both adults and kids.
Sweetened drinks have been linked to the U.S. explosion in obesity and related medical problems, and health officials have been urging people to cut back for years. Some officials have proposed an extra soda tax and many schools have stopped selling soda or artificial juices.
But advocates say those efforts are not enough, and Wednesday a coalition of 100 organizations announced a new push. The effort includes the American Heart Association and city health departments, which plan to prod companies to stop the sale of sugary drinks on their property or providing them at business meetings. There will also be new media campaigns, like one starting soon in Los Angeles that will ask, “If you wouldn’t eat 22 packs of sugar, why are you drinking it?”
