Soft drink consumption has become a highly
visible and controversial public health and
public policy issue. Soft drinks are viewed by
many as a major contributor to obesity and
related health problems and have consequently
been targeted as a means to help curtail
the rising prevalence of obesity, particularly
among children. Soft drinks have been
banned from schools in Britain and France,
and in the United States, school systems as
large as those in Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
and Miami have banned or severely limited
soft drink sales. Many US states have considered
statewide bans or limits on soft drink
sales in schools, with California passing
such legislation in 2005. A key question is
whether actions taken to decrease soft drink
consumption are warranted given the available
science and whether decreasing population
consumption of soft drinks would benefit
public health.