Can "Dumping Soda" mitigate global obesity trends?

• Author: Herro, Alana
• Position: EYE ON EARTH - Global Dump Soft Drinks Campaign - Brief article

Consumer groups on five continents are promoting a new "Dump Soda" campaign to educate people about the links between soft-drink marketing and rising childhood obesity. "Multinational giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are flooding the world with beverages that are nothing more than 'liquid candy,'" said Bruce Silverglade, legal director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is helping to coordinate the campaign. "As a result, consumers, including children, in all corners of the globe are increasingly developing obesity, 'adult onset' diabetes, and other health problems."

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The groups launched the Global Dump Soft Drinks Campaign at the Consumers International World Congress in Sydney, Australia, in October 2007. Their demands include asking governments to require soft-drink producers to stop advertising sugar-laden beverages to children under 16 and to impose a modest tax on soft drinks to fund nutrition and fitness programs. The campaign also promotes the marketing...