An organiser of New Zealand's first symposium on getting rid of sugary drinks says it would be an easy first step to combat obesity.
Doctors and health researchers are meeting in Auckland on Wednesday and Thursday to look at how to end sales of sugary drinks by 2030.
Proposals include a tax on such drinks, removing them from schools, and restrictions on sales and marketing to children.
The founder of the Fizz advocacy group, Gerhard Sundborn, says sugary drinks are the biggest contributor of sugar to people's diets.
He says they play a significant role in obesity, diabetes and rotten teeth, and are linked to cancer, gout and attention deficit disorder.