Sweetened drinks: an American addiction

In my quest I had no problem at all cutting on soda and any other sweetened drink. This is because I am Italian and I grew up considering water a drink, and everything else a snack or some kind of guilty pleasure to be enjoyed only in seldom special occasions. We did not buy Coke in my house, and not because my mum was some kind of health nut, it simply was not normal for us to spend money on something that offered no nutritional value at all. I had fruit juices growing up, and looking back at the ingredients of my favorite ones I realize that they were full of unnecessary extra sugar. But I always had them as a part of a snack, rather than as a way to quench my thirst. I think this is an essential and saving difference. I crave water when I am thirsty, and water only. I can have a juice or a coke but it's more like having a treat than anything else. My husband instead grew up drinking soda and almost no water at all. My mother in law candidly told me that pediatricians recommended adding honey to the kids water, to help them "get used" to it. Almost as if water wasn't what we are naturally supposed to drink, while sugar is. If it's true that Americans are used to associate drinking with a sweet taste since infancy, it is no surprise that there are so many obese people in this nation. Mums nowadays are not doing any better, since apple juice seem to be the drink of choice of most kids. In the store I saw organic apple juice for sale, and while this is a better solution than a soda or sugar water, it is yet another way to get people used to drinking something sweet instead of water. It only adds unnecessary calories to the kids' nutrition and the little nutritional value is definitely surpassed by eating a real apple instead.
For these reasons I haven't researched on artificial sweeteners vs. real sugar. I will from now on  take my coffee with real sugar, and I will keep not drinking soda. Artificial sweeteners are just another chemical product that add to the many artificial ingredients we ingest everyday in highly processed foods, there is no "organic" or "natural" alternative. In a way it is like the fight between margarine and butter. I'd much rather have old fashioned butter, although in moderation, than artificial margarine any day of the year.