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This study isn’t the only one to show the positive impacts of sugary beverage taxes. This study on Berkeley’s soda tax found a whopping 21 percent decrease in sugary beverage consumption. At Harvard, researchers predicted that Philadelphia’s sugary beverage tax, which went into effect this year, could prevent 36,000 cases of obesity over 10 years, prevent more than 2,000 cases of diabetes in the first year after the tax reaches its full effect, and save $200 million.

Here are seven cardinal principles that could guide an action campaign against obesity, based on lessons that have proved successful in advocacy for tobacco control.

Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century, affecting more than 500 million people worldwide and costing at least $200 billion each year in the United States alone. It contributes to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Scientists have now uncovered a genetic circuit that controls whether our bodies burn or store fat. Manipulating that genetic circuit may offer a new approach for obesity treatments.

After some suave marketers used clips from Oz's TV show to sell bogus products, he faced a grilling from a panel of U.S. senators about his weight loss product claims. Oz then invited his Twitter audience, "What is your biggest question for me? Reply with #OzsInbox." Unfortunately for Oz, this strategy backfired. Horrendously. Immediately after Oz asked the question, Twitter gave Dr. Oz a hilarious slap across the face.

Researchers noted a correlation between clinical signs of metabolic disorder — such as increasing weight or decreasing efficiency of glucose metabolism — and consumption of artificial sweeteners. The findings could cause a headache for the food industry.