Rainbow-coloured drinks with tropical names and fruit-inspired flavours are the beverage of choice for many children in the Caribbean. But happy neon tongues and adorable food dyed lips disguise a public health crisis that is anything but cute. With a single serving of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) exceeding the World Health Organisation’s daily-recommended maximum sugar intake, and in a region where there are more soft drinks consumed than anywhere else in the world, SSBs have been linked to the Caribbean’s deadly childhood obesity epidemic.
