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Thursday 17 June 2021 8:07pm

Professor Jim Mann, Co-Director of the Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research Centre, has commented on the now famous gesture and comment made by football star and top influencer, Cristiano Ronaldo.

At a Euro 2020 press release this week, Cristiano Ronaldo moved two bottles of Coca-Cola away from him and picked up a water bottle and said in Portuguese “drink water”.

Many health researchers around the world have hailed this stand against harmful drinks, which are especially common at sporting events. Professor Mann spoke with Stuff about why  Ronaldo's message was one of the key ideas that people tackling obesity have been trying to get across for a long time.

Professor Mann commented that while sugar sweetened beverages are not the sole cause of obesity, they are a symbol of one of the key drivers of the obesity epidemic. And even without the sugar content, these drinks still pose a risk to human health due to their acidity, which contributes to tooth decay.

“The other thing is it just encourages that sweet tooth being the norm, and we actually know there's a lot of evidence if kids are turned away from that sweet taste ... it reduces the overall intake of sugar" says Professor Mann.

Read the news article

Ronaldo pushes Coca-Cola bottles aside at press conference, says 'drink water', Stuff, 16 June, 2021

View further EDOR comment on harmful foods and drinks

Jim Mann 186
Professor Jim Mann

Listen to The 'cost' of sugar forum, held on 16 March, 2017

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