It is ironic that City is instituting this ad campaign, wasn't it Mayor Bloomberg who pushed against all the elected officials, parent/teacher groups to get Snapple machines into every public school so that kids could have sugary water instead of healthy drinks like milk, water, etc?

Hey! Super Big Gulp! I get that all the time! Cool pic.

Cause the Double Gulp is just too big and the Big Gulp is too small.

"Why aren't they going after cake?" Awww. LMAO.

There is actually no minimum requirement listed with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines because people don’t need them to live. As a matter of fact, people of all ages, would be much healthier if they left the sugar drinks on the shelves and drank water and low-fat milk instead.

As other posters have pointed out, at the end of the day, what you do with your body is up to you. If you don’t want to take this information seriously, don’t. I would love to hear why though. I am blogging at the NYC Health Department’s online nychealthy page – http://pulse.typepad.com/nychealthy/

I am Director of the Health Department’s Physical Activity and Nutrition Program and a nutritionist.

If you’re having trouble cutting back on sugary beverages, drinking more water throughout the day can help ease you out of your routine. Try drinking a glass of water every morning and a glass of water with every meal. Drinking water with your meal or snack, or a half-hour before, can help you keep from overeating too.

Our bodies are about 2/3rd liquid but we need water – not soda or sugar-sweetened beverages. Having a water bottle with you can help ensure you have water when you’re thirsty. You can also refill it at the nearest water fountain or sink when you run out – NYC tap water is delicious and refilling your water bottle means you won’t be littering the environment with empty plastic bottles. If you’re missing the fizz, have some seltzer instead. No calories and no sugar. Add a slice of orange or lemon to it for some fruit taste.

Another delicious drink is taking a fruit-flavored tea bag and let it flavor your tap water in the frig. That’s a healthy way to get your favorite berry taste without the calories!

Finally, don’t forget low-fat milk. It’s cool, delicious and chock full of nutrients.

But, if you must have a soda, or are in the process of decreasing the number of sodas you consume – drink a sugar-free or diet soda. They are at least calorie-free.

If you want more tips on how to decrease the number of sugary beverages you drink, I’m blogging at the Health Department’s nychealthy blog -- http://pulse.typepad.com/nychealthy/



I am the Director of the Health Department’s Physical Activity and Nutrition Programs and a nutritionist.

NOMNOMNOM

speaking from personal experience, if you want to lose pounds, simply cut out sugary drinks and that includes soda. Eat everything else the same as always. You are cutting huge calories from your diet. Easiest thing to do. Soda is not worth the calories. Fries? Yes please. Soda? Nope.

Total Bullshit. The body doesn't distinguish between a "good calorie" and a "bad calorie". Calories are calories if you're burning them for fuel. If you over consume, even those lovely "good calories" turn into, guess what? Ugly disgusting fat. HFCS is sugar extracted from corn, as opposed to a beet or a sugar cane, or a date, or your mother's fucking ass. Your body doesn't know or care about the difference. Kids get fat because they drink 4 or 5 cans of soda a day, when I was a kid I had one or two a week. Case solved.

Actually, HFCS is not at all natural. It's been heavily processed to increase the fructose content. As humans, we're not evolved to digest that much fructose daily. There's also the matter of fructose's glycation potential. If you drink that much fructose, you're just begging for increased cellular damage over time. Also, in sodas, you've got that sugar in liquid form. It doesn't get any easier to be absorbed into the bloodstream than that, unless you want a glucose IV. The body becomes less efficient at controlling blood sugar spikes as we grow older. Too high blood sugar means increased risk of insulin resistance and diabetes (not to mention memory decline due to damage to the dentate gyrus, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms). Complex carbs are infinitely preferable to fructose or even sucrose.

I only drink diet pepsi, because regular soda is just too sweet...it tastes like drinking liquid sugar...Gross!

before this story, i was never aware that soda was such a big deal to adults.

Will these signs be in 13 different languages? I see many non-English speaking folks giving their kids soda in a bottle while still in a stroller... Those folks who emigrated here from countries that have sewer water on tap may not be accustomed to drinking straight from the faucet. They prefer bottled items-ironically bottled sodas are sometimes cheaper than bottled water-at least in some corner markets. Even those who speak English, at least what I think sounds like English, prefer to eat meals from a cardboard bucket with a soda chaser–all while seated in a moving subway car. We need more social programs to educate people.

Why don't they educate people about the dangers of stupidity? It is much more detrimental to peoples health.

As long as they don't mess with my Manhattan Specials!

Apparently the communist government of NY knows exactly what we need, when we need it and how much we need, alrighty then.

I thought high fructose corn syrup was the real culprit here.

High Fructose corn syrup is a major culprit why Americans are fat, it's almost in everything. It's amazing how Corn Syrup can be in the most bizarre combinations from Noodles to chocolate.

It's just like ASPARTAME (which is in practically in every gum) which has been found to be very detrimental to the body.

and why must they sell gallon sized drinks at the movie theatre?

Because it's a massive profit source for them. They charge several dollars for that while it costs them probably 20¢ worth of soft drink syrup. Ditto for popcorn. Several bucks for a big bucket which probably cost 50¢ of unpopped kernels.

Yeah, it's unbelivable how you see people buy a mega jug of soda with a huge cup of butter fat popcorn....while sitting down...

I mean, of ocurse you're going to get fat! The additives like High Fructose Corn Syrup doesn't help either.

where's that stock photo of that fat kid?

there should be more parks in the city and the last new YMCA I've seen open was the one in the Whole Foods.

but that type of planning isn't on the mayor's agenda, just like schools.

The city does offer free fitness classes: http://bit.ly/rxulY