Colorado University Returns Big Coke Funding

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Recent debate abouts funding for health and obesity research from private companies like Coca-cola have heated up the news headlines. Some resources have even said Coca-Cola has paid dieticians to recommend a small can of Coke as a snack in a well-balanced diet.

Big soda had funded research in 2014 through their Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN) to various groups and were put into question as the research according to reports, clearly focused on exercise and less on a healthy diet, free of sugary beverages.

The Univeristy of Colorado School of Medicine has now publicly announced since last Friday, November 6, 2015, the that they are returning the money funded from Coca-Cola. A recent article from CNN Money mentions that the university decided to return the funding as “the funding source has distracted attention from its worthwhile goal.”

Sugar-sweetened beverages have been linked to diabetes, obesity, heart failure and more unhealthy risk factors from various researchers. Although sugary beverages and fatty foods are not considered the “cause” of these chronic diseases, many signs of chronic disease remain evident to researchers when participants are consuming high-sugar diets.

Research on Latino kids showed that those who consumed more sugary drinks were more likely to have higher body weight, and more at risk for diabetes, dental problems and adult obesity.

GEBN states on their website that their mission is to help find “evidence-based” approaches to end obesity. However, now other groups, like the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, are planning to end future funding from Coca-Cola’s GEBN.

Coca-Cola still plans to donate the money to Boys and Girls Club of America, and other universities that have received GEBN funds still plan to keep the funding.

Read more on this story here.