The headlines are hard to ignore. America has a weight challenge.

Obesity is a serious and complex problem that is best addressed by living a balanced lifestyle – consuming a variety of foods and beverages in moderation and getting plenty of exercise.

Simply put: calories in, calories out. University of North Carolina researchers found that in the past 20 years adolescent obesity rates climbed 10 percent, while calorie intake only rose 1 percent. During the same period, children’s physical activity levels declined 13 percent.

That’s why the American Beverage Association teamed up with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to create the national School Beverage Guidelines. Developed using nutrition science, including the American Heart Association’s Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Children and 2006 Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations, the guidelines make it easier for schools to maintain the balance between calories consumed and calories burned. To this end, beverage companies are voluntarily removing full calorie sodas from schools and offering a broad range of lower-calorie, smaller-portion beverages to students.

Additional Support from the Beverage Industry

In addition to working toward implementation of the guidelines, the beverage industry supports numerous physical activity and wellness initiatives across the country. Here are a few examples:

  • Our members provide millions of dollars to support the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs across the United States.
  • The beverage industry sponsors youth sports teams and leagues throughout the country.
  • In 2005, The Coca-Cola Company, in conjunction with the President's Council for Physical Fitness and Sports, the School Nutrition Association, and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, developed the "Live It!" program designed to help middle school students build healthy lifestyles by encouraging physical activity as part of their daily lives and by providing nutrition tips in schools using the new USDA Food Pyramid.
  • PepsiCo, Inc. and America On the Move developed a lesson plan called Balance First™ to help educate kids about energy balance. This program reached three million elementary school students in 2004. In 2005, as part of a partnership with Discovery Education, Pepsi distributed the Balance First™ program to 15,000 middle schools in the United States.