The evidence for a role of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in the development of obesity and associated comorbid ities, although not fully resolved, is becoming increasingly convincing, with supporting data from both prospective cohort studies and randomised trials. The obesogenic effect of SSBs seems to be simply a consequence of the excess calories provided by their consumption, rather than of any specific adverse effects of fructose-containing sugars that they contain, with no clear evidence that excess energy intake from SSBs is any more harmful than is excess energy intake from any other source.