ABSTRACT
VIVIAN M. VAN DE GAAR, WILMA JANSEN, AMY VAN GRIEKEN, GERARD JJM BORSBOOM, STEF KREMERS, AND HEIN RAAT
12.1 BACKGROUND
Weight gain and subsequent overweight in children is a growing problem worldwide. One of the contributions to this problem is thought to be the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) [1]–[6]. Indeed, small reductions in daily SSB servings have been shown to potentially improve health [7],[8]; for example De Ruyter et al. showed that over a period of 18 months, children who replaced one SSB serving per school day with a non-caloric drink gained less weight, with an average difference of 1.0 kg [7]. Several other intervention studies with water as an alternative drink
have demonstrated successful behavioural changes, weight loss and other health benefits [9]–[13].
