A team of researchers from the University of California, San
Francisco (UCSF) looked at 60 studies published between 2001 and 2016 that
analyzed the link between sugary drinks like soda and obesity and type 2
diabetes. During his research, Dr. Dean Schillinger found that when studies are
funded by the soda industry, they report different findings than studies that
are done by independent researchers.
Schillinger and his colleagues report that out of the 60
studies they reviewed, 26 did not find a relationship between sugary drinks and
obesity or diabetes, and 34 did report a link. All of the studies that did not
link the drinks to disease were funded by the beverage industry. Only one of
the studies that did report a link was industry-funded.
“This industry seems to be manipulating contemporary
scientific processes to create controversy and advance their business interests
at the expense of the public’s health,” the study authors concluded in their
report.
“The reality is we are in a public health war with diabetes
right now,” says Schillinger. “In every war there is propaganda. What the
public should take away from [these findings] is that we are being played. If
you exclude the studies funded by industry and only look at the independently
funded studies, it becomes apparent that sugar-sweetened beverages cause
obesity and diabetes.”
Schillinger says that the industry’s influence on public
health through funding and research isn’t a new revelation, but calls the
number of studies in the report “remarkable”. “This is not an opinion
perspective,” he says. “Any high school student could do this study. You count
up the studies and see who funded them. That’s research. That’s fact.”
This is not the first time the soda or sugar industry has
been criticized for interfering with public health. In October, a study
published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported that between
2011 to 2015, 96 national health organizations accepted money from Coca-Cola,
PepsiCo or both companies. In 2015 it was revealed that Coca-Cola funded an
organization called the Global Energy Balance Network that tried to shift
public health messaging away from a focus on diet and onto exercise.
See also After the Sugar Rush
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