Fizzy drinks may be playing bigger part in weight gain than sugary food.

An Aberdeen University study suggests that drinking fizzy juice might add to our waistlines more than sugary foods.

The study involved increasing the sugar intake of mice on a exact scale between the animals food and their water.

Previous studies had been carried out, although the level of intake of water had not been limited - such as in this study - prompting fears with researchers that the weight gain of the mice was simply down to being able to consume more water.

The Aberdeen Uni study however, limited this, and the mice still gained weight from the liquids, but not the solid food.

Professor John Speakman conducted the study, while he suggests it's realistic the same theory applies to humans - due to their similarities to mice - he says further human studies are required to see if we process sugar in the exact same way.

Professor Speakman explained:

“Obesity, diabetes and other metabolic related disorders remain on the rise globally and it is widely agreed that the main cause of obesity is an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure."

“The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been widely implicated as a contributing factor in obesity and we investigated whether the mode of ingestion (solid or liquid) had different impacts on body weight regulation in mice."

“There has been a lot of concern recently over the intake of sugary drinks, and if humans respond in the same way as mice do, then these concerns may be entirely justified.”