1. Today we will be discussing why it is important to “Drink ZERO sugary drinks”.

2. Drink 0 sugary drinks.
Today we will be discussing why it is important to “Drink ZERO sugary drinks”.

3. What is your favorite drink?

4. Today you will explore the importance of drinking 0 sugary drinks.
Learning Objective
Today you will explore the importance of drinking 0 sugary drinks.
Review learning objective - Students understand the importance of drinking Zero sugary drinks and identify a better alternative - water.

5. Let’s explore the sugar in these drinks.
Call out the displayed drinks (preferably real drink items if possible) one by one and ask students to raise their hand if they drink each drink. Ask students which is the healthiest choice? If they say water, ask why the others are not healthy?
Sugar should certainly come up since it is our subject matter.
Activity - Tell students we will now explore how much sugar is in these drinks. Ask for a volunteer to come up and help you demonstrate and call on someone who has participated appropriately.
Ask the student to guess how many teaspoons of sugar are in one of the most popular drinks by scooping full level teaspoons of sugar in to a clear cup. Have students still in their seats raise their hands and when they feel like the demonstrating student has scooped the correct number of teaspoons, they should put their hands down.
Hold the cup up for the class to see. Then reveal the actual amount of sugar in the drink that you have prepared ahead of time to compare and ask: “Would you drink this?” (Alternatively – you can stop the scooping student when they get to the correct number of teaspoons based on the sugar grams from the nutrition label. Be sure to multiply by serving size if there are more than 1 serving in a drink container.
Repeat for a few of the most popular drinks.
Typical sugar content for the drink samples shown in the presentation:
Capri-sun/ juice box 5 tsps approx 19 grams
Lemonade 12 tsps 47 grams per small bottle
Gatorade / sports drink 8 tsps approx 32 grams per 20 oz bottle
Soda tsps approximately 39 grams
Water 0 tsps 0 grams
Fruit Juice Box Lemonade Sports Drink Soda Water

6. How much sugar is in a juice box?
Show students or ask students where to find both the sugar content in grams and the serving size per container on this drink product’s nutrition label.
Ask students to approximate how many teaspoons of sugar, sugar packets, or sugar cubes would be in each drink. (Reminder: there are 4 grams of sugar in each teaspoon of sugar, sugar packet or sugar cube.)

7. How much sugar is in lemonade?
Show students or ask students where to find both the sugar content in grams and the serving size per container on this drink product’s nutrition label.
Ask students to approximate how many teaspoons of sugar, sugar packets, or sugar cubes would be in each drink. (Reminder: there are 4 grams of sugar in each teaspoon of sugar, sugar packet or sugar cube.)

8. How much sugar is in a sports drink?
Show students or ask students where to find both the sugar content in grams and the serving size per container on this drink product’s nutrition label.
Ask students to approximate how many teaspoons of sugar, sugar packets, or sugar cubes would be in each drink. (Reminder: there are 4 grams of sugar in each teaspoon of sugar, sugar packet or sugar cube.)

9. How much sugar is in soda?
Show students or ask students where to find both the sugar content in grams and the serving size per container on this drink product’s nutrition label.
Ask students to approximate how many teaspoons of sugar, sugar packets, or sugar cubes would be in each drink. (Reminder: there are 4 grams of sugar in each teaspoon of sugar, sugar packet or sugar cube.)

10. Did you know most Americans
drink too much sugar?
Limit added sugar in drinks and factory made food to 25 grams per day or about 6 teaspoons.
Let students know that Americans typically consume far too much sugar, typically exceeding the daily recommended amount of added sugar in their drinks alone. The average American consumes 156 pounds of sugar each year. (A 50 pound bag of sugar is a good visual for students or use a comparison such as the body weight of an average size adult woman.) It is recommended that people not consume more than 25 grams or approximately 6 teaspoons of added sugar. This does not include sugar that occurs in nature grown foods.

11. Too much sugar causes…. • Weight gain • Diabetes • Tooth decay
• Hyperactivity
• Heart disease
• Lower energy/depression
Lead a discussion of the effects of too much added sugar on the body. You can use the visual clues on slide 6 to drive this discussion. Effects of too much sugar over time include: diabetes, heart disease, weight gain, tooth decay, learning and attention difficulty, hyperactivity or loss of focus immediately following sugar intake or loss of energy after the initial spike of energy, acne, weakened immunities and many other serious health risks.

12. What about diet soda?
Hold up the diet drink or show the diet soda represented on slide 7 and ask “Does this have sugar?” Direct the conversation to the term artificial sugar and ask student what the word “artificial” means. Relate to students that studies have shown that many of these artificial chemical sweeteners have produced cancer in lab rats but we simply do not know yet the effects of these chemicals. They could be far worse that sugar over the long run.

13. What do all of these need to survive?
Ask students what does an animal, a human and a plant all need to survive. You may get several answers and one of them should be water. Guide responses to be sure students arrive at water. Ask students “What happens if you do not water a plant? Would the same thing happen to a human?” “What would happen if you watered the plant with soda or lemonade?” The plant dries up and dies when watered with soda after a few weeks.

14. Did you know water is critical to your body!
Not enough water =
Ask students, “Why do you think it is important to drink water each day?” “Do you think sugary drinks are a substitute for water?” Did you know your body is made up mostly of water and that you lose water each day as you breathe and sweat so it is important to replenish the water you lose or you will become dehydrated?

15. Why we need water: To regulate body temperature Lubricate joints
Lessen burden on kidneys and liver by flushing our waste products
Carry nutrients and oxygen to cells
Moisten tissue (i.e. mouth, eyes, nose)
Protect body organs and tissues
Lead students in a discussion about how it is important to replace all those sugary drinks with water. Ask if any student has ever been dehydrated? How did it feel? Lead a discussion on the importance of water using the visual clues in the presentations.
(Add why water is important to the body details here as teacher guide)

16. Create a Health Goal
My health goal is___________________________. The steps I will take to reach my goal are:
Have students write down a specific and measurable health goal related to drinking 8 glasses of water each day and zero sugary drinks and use the Walk On! Challenge tracking tools to measure their success throughout the week.
(There is an enrichment activity aligned with this concept.)

17. Three things I learned today
Ask students to share in their group or with a neighbor what they feel is the most important thing they learned today.
Or, as a classroom group, ask students to identify three things that they learned that they felt was most important to them today.
Challenge students to drink Zero sugary drinks and chart their progress. Review each week to reinforce the Walk On!
Challenge to ensure students are making progress toward the goal.