Coke Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away From Bad Diets

"Coca-Cola, the world’s largest producer of sugary beverages, is backing a new 'science-based' solution to the obesity crisis: To maintain a healthy weight, get more exercise and worry less about cutting calories.

The beverage giant has teamed up with influential scientists who are advancing this message in medical journals, at conferences and through social media. To help the scientists get the word out, Coke has provided financial and logistical support to a new nonprofit organization called the Global Energy Balance Network, which promotes the argument that weight-conscious Americans are overly fixated on how much they eat and drink while not paying enough attention to exercise.

 'Most of the focus in the popular media and in the scientific press is, ‘Oh they’re eating too much, eating too much, eating too much’ — blaming fast food, blaming sugary drinks and so on,' the group’s vice president, Steven N. Blair, an exercise scientist, says in a recent video announcing the new organization. 'And there’s really virtually no compelling evidence that that, in fact, is the cause.'"

Anahad O’Connor reports for the New York Times' Well blog August 9, 2015.