"Drinkers" could use beverage guidelines.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

American adults consume about 21% of their daily calories from beverages--twice as much as is recommended by the World Health Organization. In response, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has developed the first set of Healthy Beverage Guidelines.

"Many people either forget or don't realize how many extra calories they consume in what they drink, yet beverages continue to be a major contributor to the alarming increase in obesity," cautions Barry M. Popkin, professor of nutrition.

The Guidelines suggest that people drink more water and limit or eliminate high-calorie beverages with little or no nutritional value. Beverages have been grouped into six categories with recommendations for a range of how much in each category people should drink daily.

* Water: At least four servings for women and six for men...