American kids consume a tremendous amount of sugar these days, and many nutritional experts blame that consumption on a whole host of ills from obesity to hyperactivity, but would cutting out some of that sugar help very much? A new study suggests that yes, it would.

Scientists from the University of California-San Francisco and Touro University put a bevy of youth ages 9 to 18 on a special diet, replacing sugar calories with calories from more starchy foods. The researchers didn’t alter the kids’ overall caloric intake or have their subjects exercise more. The only thing that changed was, well, the sugar. The results were telling.

Although the kids were consuming about the same amount of calories, each lost an average of two pounds. Their blood pressure and cholesterol levels went down, too. However, some are cautioning that the study was a pretty small one, and the sugar industry (perhaps unsurprisingly) is calling the study flawed. (Oregon Press Herald)