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Sweet drinks linked to weight gain

OTTAWA, June 1 (UPI) -- A University of Ottawa study found that sugar-sweetened drinks given to pre-school children between meals increases the likelihood of weight gain.

Researchers at the University of Ottawa Institute of Population Health studied the frequency of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption between meals of more than 1,900 children ages 2-and-a-half to 4-and-a-half-years old living in Quebec.

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Nearly 7 percent of children who didn't drink sugar-sweetened beverages between meals were overweight at 4-and-half-years old, while 15.4 percent of children who drank them four to six times or more per week were overweight at the same age.

"Parents should be encouraged to limit the quantity of beverages high in energy and sugar because of their propensity to increase weight," the researchers wrote in the study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

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