This is absolutely ludicrous.
Sugar does not cause diabetes. Diabetes causes problems metabolizing sugar, leading to increased blood sugar, which is why people made the erroneous assumption that sugar causes diabetes.
Sugar also does not cause weight gain. Of course, the idea that consuming a single food type (whether it’s carbohydrates, lipids, or proteins) leads to weight gain is incredibly seductive and suggests that simply eliminating that food type will reverse obesity. In reality, obesity is not that simple.
A big problem here is that MDs with no training in research or scientific method put together a “study” or two, where they gather all kinds of observational data, have a statistician apply every statistical test possible to the data, find a correlation (e.g. that high soda consumption and obesity are correlated), and jump from there to concluding that a correlation is a causation. And they think they are actually doing research.
In this case, these researchers are taking their correlation a step further, insisting not only that it proves a causation, but trying to use that correlation as an excuse to control how other people eat. And the result, if they are successful, could backfire badly: kids deprived of sugar WILL gorge on it, any chance they get—and then, they WILL gain weight, just from all the excess calories.
And the causative relationship between excess calorie consumption and obesity has been very well documented...
Like marijuana "causing" psychological problems.
Well, no...not if you simply look at it. You'd have to eat it.
Bottom line, if you consume more calories per day than you burn...you're going to gain weight.
What other substance has such a concentrated high caloric content, and needs virtually no digestion to be passed into the blood stream?
The above combination makes it very easy to overwhelm the body's systems and cause the excess to be stored as fat, or to tax the body's ability to utilize insulin or produce it in sufficient amounts.
It is practically impossible to find prepared food without sugar in it. But think of the folks that start the day with coffee, cream and sugar, Dunkin donut, or cereal with sugar, a Pepsi...several a day. And the same is true of white flour, it turns to sugar as soon as you start to chew it.
Folks are pounding down tons of the stuff to their own demise, and although I think it's their right to do so, they should have the information so they can make good choices.