A can of sugary drink a day can lead in a year to 6.4kg extra for the teenagers who consume it. American scientist studied the weight of 103 teenagers, 47 male and 56 female, aged 13 to 18, half consuming sweetened drinks and half unsweetened. During 25 weeks, one half was asked to continue with their normal drinks, while the other received a daily delivery of bottled water or artificially sweetened drinks. Results showed that a 330ml can a day of drinks containing sugar results in a 450g gain a month. A recent analysis showed that, by the year 2010, 40% of the children in the European Union, meaning more than 26 million, will be overweight if nothing is done to stop this. Also, 20,000 obese children could develop type 2 diabetes by 2010; over 1 million children show signs of high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels. Large scale tests will be made to confirm these results, but so far, they provide a guideline for doctors everywhere. A report issued last week by the Audit Commission contested the Government's indecision over the measures needed to be taken to stop this growing threat. A few days later, the Government announced junk food, snacks containing a high number of calories and sugary soft drinks will be banned from schools. Parents will be asked to give their children packed lunches. The recommended drinks for children are water, low-fat milk, milk shakes with no sugar and fruit juice. Also, children should drink at least 2L of water daily.