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While Americans debate over what exactly is causing the current obesity epidemic, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have found a solid link between the regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and a greater genetic susceptibility to increased obesity risk.

The consumption and kinds of sugar-ladened drinks has rose dramatically in the US over the past three decades.

According to a previous study led by researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, from 1988 to 2004, the percentage of sugar-sweetened beverage drinkers increased five percent, the consumption rate averaging to about 6 ounces per day.

While it is no surprise that beverages such as Coke or Minute Maid Juice are contributing to the steady rise of the countries average BMI, there have been doubts as to whether not people who were thought to be simply genetically predisposed to weight gain (those with gland problems for examples) had any connection with those who overindulged.

The results are based on data aggregated from three large cohorts, 121,700 women in the Nurses' Health Study, 51,529 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and 25,000 in the Women's Genome Health Study.

All participants were asked to complete a survey in which they were questioned about about what they ate and drank and how frequently.

They were then divided based on their answers into separate groups (between 1-4 servings per month, between 2-6 servings per week, and one or more servings per day) and were tested for genetic predispositions associated with BMI.

The findings showed that the genetic effects on BMI and obesity risk among those who drank one or more SSBs per day were about twice as large as those who consumed less than one serving per month; this suggests that regular consumption of sweetened beverages amplifies the genetic risk of obesity. Moreover, participants that had the greater genetic predisposition for obesity were more adversely affected by SSBs.

"SSBs are one of the driving forces behind the obesity epidemic," says Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH and a coauthor of this study. "The implication of our study is that the genetic effects of obesity can be offset by healthier food and beverage choices."