1. Sugar Shocker: What’s in YOUR Drink? Speaker’s Notes
Sugar Shocker presentation

2. Why do drinks matter?
Eating or drinking lots of sugar is not healthy and can cause diseases like diabetes.
Many drinks contain lots of hidden sugar.
A diet high in pop or sugary drinks has additional health risks.
Drinking pop can mean we drink lots of caffeine too.
Drinks like juice, energy drinks, and sports drinks are also high in sugar. They should only be drunk in small amounts. For example, one serving of juice is actually 250 ml (the amount in a drink-box), and not the regular sized bottle that you can buy at the store (usually around 500 ml).
Many people are not aware of the liquid calories (food energy) they consume in a day.
The extra calories can add up overtime and can lead to obesity.
Research has shown that pop consumption will “bump” other nutritious beverages from the diet, especially milk, which can lead to an increased risk of developing osteoporosis.
The sugar in these drinks can also affect our teeth and contribute to tooth decay.
Sugar Shocker presentation

3. Best Choices: Wonderful Water: Healthy drink choice!
Marvelous Milk: Healthy drink choice!
Water is great for keeping hydrated and sipping throughout the day. It is calorie and sugar free.
Milk contains some naturally occurring sugar, but also contains nutrients such as protein, calcium, Vitamin A and D.
Sugar Shocker presentation

4. Choose Sometimes: Unsweetened Juice
Flavoured Milk (i.e. chocolate milk)
Juice also contains naturally occurring sugar, but it also has nutrients such as Vitamin C, Vitamin A, folate, potassium, antioxidants and more.
Flavoured milk has just as much nutritional value as white milk (calcium, Vitamin D and protein) however, it does have more calories due to the added sugar.
Sugar Shocker presentation

5. Choose Least Often: DRINK Sports Drink Fruit Drink
Chocolate Bar Milkshake
The BIG One, slush drinks, Pop, Diet Pop
Sports Drinks are made up of water, sugar, salt and some electrolytes. They are intended for use during intense physical activity lasting longer than 60 minutes.
Fruit Drinks usually contain only a small percentage of juice and some have no juice at all. Most of the flavour comes from added sugar. Some fruit drinks may have added Vitamin C as their only nutrient.
Chocolate Bar Milkshake: While the nutrients in milk are valuable, these milkshake drinks contain a lot of added sugar and fat.
The large fountain pops or slush drinks, Pop, Diet Pop have no nutritional value and provide empty calories. Regular pop is made of sugar and water. Although diet pop has almost no calories, it still contains acid (which is harmful to teeth) and usually caffeine.
DRINK
Sugar Shocker presentation

6. Sugar in drinks of added sugar up to 17 tsp
One cup (250ml) of milk contains about 3 tsp of sugar
One cup (250ml) of unsweetened fruit juice contains about 7 tsp of sugar.
Drinks with added sugar have more calories and don’t have the nutrients of milk and juice.
Drinks such as white milk and unsweetened juice contain natural sugar.
All sugar is the same to your body whether it is added or natural.
100% fruit juice will have many additional vitamins and antioxidants and milk contains nutrients such as protein, calcium, Vitamin D and riboflavin.
Drinks with added sugar generally don’t have these healthy nutrients and are higher in calories because of all the extra sugar.
up to 17
tsp
of added sugar
Sugar Shocker presentation

7. The Problem with Sugary Drinks
Soft drinks have no nutritional value
Today school kids drink 3 times more pop than 20 years ago
They now drink twice as much pop as milk
Excess weight gain in children has been linked to sugar-sweetened drinks
Sugar Shocker presentation

8. Source: www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/rethinkyourdrink
The 5 C’s of sugary drinks show you that these drinks have extra calories, no nutritional content, cause calcium loss, increase your caffeine content, and cause cavities.
Sugar Shocker presentation

9. Your choice matters! Sugar and Tooth Decay:
Sugar mixes with bacteria in your mouth and makes acid
Diet and ”sugar-free” drinks also contain acid
Acid breaks down tooth enamel
An acid “attack” lasts 20 minutes and starts again with every sip
Weakened tooth enamel allows bacteria to move in and cause a cavity.
Brush with fluoridated toothpaste after eating or drinking.
If this is not possible, rinse thoroughly with water to rinse away sugar and acid. Other options are chewing a stick of sugar-free gum (helps to increase saliva flow which naturally neutralizes the acid), or eating a piece of cheese (which helps protect teeth and give them a boost of calcium).
Sugar Shocker presentation

10. Your choice matters! Obesity and overweight:
High-sugar drinks add empty calories that can lead to weight gain
Obese people have a higher chance of getting heart disease, cancer, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure
There has been a dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity in Canada over the past 15 years, and the problem is particularly pronounced among children.
Type 2 diabetes used to be referred to as ‘Adult-onset diabetes’; however, more and more children and adolescents are now being diagnosed with the disease as a result of the higher weights and lower activity levels of this age group.
Sugar Shocker presentation

11. Your choice matters! Osteoporosis:
Osteoporosis happens when your bones become weak and brittle
Osteoporosis can happen if you don’t get enough calcium and vitamin D in your diet
Sugary drinks are often chosen instead of milk, which means that person may not get enough calcium and vitamin D
Peak bone mass development occurs during adolescence.
If bone mass development is compromised during this time, this will place the individual at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis later in life.
High sugar beverages often replace nutritious choices and can lead to prolonged displacement of nutrients such as calcium and Vitamin D from the diet.
Studies show that there is a relationship between drinking pop and a decrease in bone density among adolescents.
For individuals who do not consume milk products, achieving daily calcium and vitamin D requirements will be more difficult.
Calcium fortified beverages (eg soy beverage, calcium fortified orange juice), canned salmon with bones, tofu made with calcium or set in calcium salts or almonds are non-dairy sources of calcium.
Non-milk sources of vitamin D are limited.
Sugar Shocker presentation

12. About Calcium:
According to Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating, children and youth need:
Age group
# Servings of milk product
per day
Children 4-9 years
2-3
Youth years
3-4
1 serving is equal to:
- 1 cup (250 ml) of milk
- ¾ cup (175 g) of yoghurt
- 50 g cheese (2 slices of processed cheese or a block 3”x1”x1”)
Sugar Shocker presentation

13. Your choice matters! Caffeine:
Some pop (such as Coke, Pepsi, Barq’s Root Beer, Jolt, Dr.Pepper) and some energy drinks contain caffeine
Caffeine is a stimulant and affects people according to their body weight
One can of cola (355 ml) may have the same effect on a young child as four cups of coffee would have on an adult
Caffeine intake can cause nervousness, irritability, difficulty sleeping, rapid heartbeat and can lead to a caffeine dependency. When caffeine intake is stopped abruptly, some people experience headache, fatigue and drowsiness. Moderation is the key when consuming caffeine.
Sugar Shocker presentation

14. Other reasons to Pop and other drinks create garbage
Healthy drinks help you concentrate better in school
Natural drinks are more traditional
Sugar Shocker presentation

15. Rethink your drink, and you will:
Have a great smile
Have a healthy environment
Have healthy bones
Have better concentration
Have good overall health
Keep up traditions
Source:
Sugar Shocker presentation

16. Source: www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/rethinkyourdrink
Sugar Shocker presentation

17. Sugar Shocker presentation

18. References:
“(T-1) BACKGROUND INFORMATION”, Rethink Your Drink Campaign, Calgary Health Region (
Drop The Pop NWT (
David Thompson Health Region “You Are What You Eat” presentation (
Sugar Shocker presentation

19. Funding and assistance for this project was provided by:
Re-Think Your Drink Campaign
The Health Promotion Fund, Department of Health and Social Services
Health Promotion & Nutrition Programs
Sugar Shocker presentation