Gabrielle Looney already knew some facts about sugary drinks before she came to the Rev Your Bev Day event at Suffolk’s Health and Human Services building Wednesday.

“Sugary drinks can contribute to obesity more than fatty foods can,” she said, chatting with registered dietitian Karen Brower in the building’s lobby.

It’s true, according to research cited by the Rev Your Bev Day website. Events across the state, sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth’s Y Street program, aimed to bring attention to the amount of sugar that is in many beverages, including some generally thought of as healthy.

The display, manned throughout the day by different people from the health department, the Suffolk Partnership for a Healthy Community and Healthy People/Healthy Suffolk, featured empty bottles of Coca-Cola, Gatorade, Vitamin Water, Monster and Arizona Southern Style Sweet Tea.

Each had a cup in front of it with several sugar cubes, representing the amount of sugar in each of the drinks.

“Several people were quite surprised at how much sugar is in the beverages they drink routinely,” said Brower, who is a nutrition services supervisor who works primarily with the Women, Infants and Children program. “The biggest point of this event is for people to be aware of the sugar content and possibly make some other choices.”

Robbie Laughton, executive director of the Suffolk Partnership for a Healthy Community, said the piles of sugar cubes resonate with people.

“Most people are shocked when they actually see the visual of the amount of sugar that is in the beverages that were on display,” he said. “Just to be able to have a visual there is very impactful.”

According to research, the average American drinks about 44 gallons of soda every year. Children who drink sugary drinks are far more likely to be overweight as an adult.

“Those are two facts that oftentimes people don’t fully understand that,” Laughton said.

A poster at the event provided an even more striking message — a 64-ounce soda, like one might get at a convenience store fountain, along with a glass full of 54 cubes of sugar.

“You wouldn’t eat 54 cubes of sugar,” the poster reads. “So why are you drinking them?”

Pure water is the best beverage option, Brower said, noting that even coffee drinkers usually put several packets of sugar or artificial sweeteners in a cup. For those who like a little flavor, she encouraged fruit-infused water.

For more information, call www.revyourbev.com.