Sip on the lip is a chip off the hip

Want to help your kids keep the weight off? Just give them water instead of soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks, researchers advise.

One analysis of the diets of children and teens in the United States showed they drink, on average, 235 "empty" calories in sugar-sweetened beverages each day.

When these drinks are cut out, the average child does not make up for them by eating or drinking more calories elsewhere, the researchers say. In a second study, Dutch researchers found children would cut out sugary drinks before they would exercise or abandon snacks.