A judge on Monday halted Mayor Bloomberg's ban on large sugary drinks, which was to take effect Tuesday. Gary Bennett Associate professor of psychology, global health and medicine, Duke University gary.bennett@duke.edu http://garybennett.info Twitter: @drgarybennett Bennett, a clinical psychologist and social epidemiologist, is an expert on obesity, weight loss and physical activity. Quote: "The New York beverage ban is little more than a symbolic step, even though there is absolutely no nutritional benefit to these beverages and their overconsumption is a major driver of our nation's weight problem. "It's unlikely the beverage ban would have been effective. The rules, particularly for things like coffee drinks, were overly complicated for consumers and retailers. A host of other policy strategies -- particularly a sugar-sweetened beverage tax -- have greater potential to reduce the overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. "The biggest problem with this measure was that it could have jeopardized the ability to introduce more comprehensive -- and potentially more effective -- obesity prevention policies." _ _ _ _ Duke experts on a variety of other topics can be found at http://newsoffice.duke.edu/resources-media/faculty-experts.
