Obesity rates have more than doubled in adults and children since the 1970s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 78.6 million adults are overweight or obese, with 12.7 million children and adolescents in the same category. To combat this major public health problem that contributes to heart disease, diabetes and stroke, the Balance Calories Initiative was enacted in 2014 by the Washington-D.C.-based American Beverage Association (ABA) to reduce beverage calories consumed by each person nationally by 20 percent by 2025.
ABA partnered with the New York-based Alliance for a Healthier Generation for the national multi-year effort, which sprang from the Smart Snacks in School regulation enacted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last July.