2. Sugar Sweetened Beverages
Picture from Pixabay (
Sugar cubes:

3. What you will learn What sugar is and where it is found
How much sugar Canadian teens are drinking
What the big deal about sugar is
What you can do to reduce your sugar intake

4. What is Sugar?
Sugar is a type of carbohydrate. It breaks down in the body to become a source of energy called glucose.
Glucose = energy source for the body
Glucose is the preferred energy source for the brain
Image purchased Bigstock-Human-Brain

5. Natural Sugar Sugar is found naturally in these foods:
Fruits, vegetables, milk products, and grains
These foods are nutritious and contain important vitamins and minerals
Vegetables, fruit, and whole grains also contain fibre, which helps to regulate the absorption and digestion of sugars
Images:
Milk –
Fruit-
Corn –
Grains -

6. Natural Sugar We don’t need to worry about natural sugars
We’re supposed to be eating some sugar (for energy)
Aim for natural sources to be the majority of sugar you eat

7. What about other sugar in our diet?

8. Free Sugars
Free sugars are sugars added to foods and drinks by manufacturers, cooks or consumers (often called ‘added sugars’).
Also sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.
Images:
Pop tart:
Honey:
Lemonade:

9. Free sugars
Sugar can be listed by many different names on an ingredients list.
If these names are listed in the first few ingredients on a food package, the food is likely high in added sugar.
Agave, Brown sugar, Cane sugar, Evaporated cane juice, Concentrated fruit juice, Corn syrup, Dextrose, Dextrin, Fructose, Galactose, Glucose, Glucose-Fructose, High fructose corn syrup, Honey, Invert sugar, Liquid sugar, Maltose, Maple syrup, Molasses, Nectar, Raw sugar, Sucrose, Syrup, White Sugar
Added sugars like honey and agave are no healthier than white sugar and brown sugar
Look at the Nutrition Facts Panel and the ingredient list to compare products and choose foods will less sugar.
Reference:

10. A lot of the free sugar consumed by Canadians is from Sugary Drinks
Sugary drinks (drinks with free sugars) include non diet soft drinks, ready to drink sweetened coffees and teas, energy drinks, sports drinks, flavoured waters, flavoured milk and drinkable yogurts, fruit drinks and 100% juice.
Picture from Google Images (free for non-commercial use)

11. What kinds of Sugary Drinks?
Pop sales have been decreasing over the years, BUT there has been a growth in sales of newer products that offset these reductions: 
Energy drinks +638%
Sweetened coffees +579%
Flavoured water +527%
Drinkable yogurt +283%
Sweetened teas +36%
Flavoured milk +21%
Sports drinks +4%.
Reference:
Images:
Flavoured coffee:
Energy Drink:

12. How much are Canadians consuming?
The average youth in Canada drinks 578 ml of sugary drinks each day which can contain up to 16 teaspoons or 64 grams of sugar. 
Youth are drinking the most out of all age groups.
Sugary drink consumption per day by age:
Children 0 – 8 years consumed 326ml
Youth 9 – 18 years consumed 578ml
Young adults 19 – 30 years consumed 504 ml
Adults 31+ years consumed 259ml
Reference:
Image:

13. How much is Free Sugar is recommended?
The World Health Organization recommends a daily maximum intake of less than 10% of calories from free sugars.
This is about 10 teaspoons per day
The average teen is consuming double that per day!
Note: 4 grams of sugar = 1 tsp. To calculate how many teaspoons of sugar use:
Amount of sugar in grams/4 = sugar in tsp.
20 grams of sugar:
20 grams/4 = 5 tsp of sugar

14. What’s the Big Deal?
Too much sugar, especially added or free sugar, can have a negative impact on our health.
Too much sugar may contribute to increased risk of dental cavities, to less healthy weight and increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Reference: Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2015

15. What’s the Big Deal?
Research from the University of Waterloo reveals that sugary drink consumption is projected to result in:
over 63,000 deaths in Canada
cost the healthcare system more than $50 billion over the next 25 years.
It is estimated that sugary drink consumption in Canada will be responsible for: 
More than 1 million cases of overweight and more than 3 million cases of obesity
Almost 1 million cases of type 2 diabetes
Almost 300,000 Canadians with ischemic heart disease
More than 100,000 cases of cancer 
Almost 40,000 strokes
Almost 2.2 million disability-adjusted life years (the number of years of healthy life lost due to ill health, disability or early death.)
Reference:
Image:

16. Let’s Get Sugar Savvy
Use this webpage ( to have students guess how many teaspoons of sugar are in common sugar sweetened beverages. Picture is hyperlinked.
Image:

17. What can I do?
Be Sugar Savvy  Choose water or unflavoured milk and fortified soy beverages most often. Avoid sugary drinks, like pop and fruit juice.
Image:

18. What can I do?
Read the Nutrition Facts Table Look for drinks that are lower in sugar. Make sure you compare the serving size on the Nutrition Facts table to your portion size
Remember WHO recommends no more than 8 –10 tsp of sugar each day
Note: 4 grams of sugar = 1 tsp. To calculate how many teaspoons of sugar use:
Amount of sugar in grams/4 = sugar in tsp.
e.g. 20 grams of sugar:
20 grams/4 = 5 tsp of sugar

19. What can I do?
Make your own Make your own lower sugar versions of drinks like flavoured water, iced tea or homemade smoothies
Flavour water using fresh or frozen fruit and fresh herbs
Make homemade smoothies using fresh or frozen fruit, plain greek yogurt, and milk or water
Images:
Water:
Smoothie:

20. What can I do?
Go Natural Get your sugars from whole fruit vs juices VS
1 cup (250 mL) orange juice = 25 g of sugar (6.25 tsp)
1 orange = 12 g sugar (3 tsp)
One cup of orange juice has two oranges worth of sugar, and most people can easily drink over a cup of orange juice in one sitting
So while you likely wouldn’t eat more than one orange in one sitting, it is easy to drink many oranges worth of sugar at once
Fruit is also packed full of vitamins, minerals, fibre, antioxidants and phytochemicals, all of which promote health and prevent disease
Images:
Oranges:
Orange Juice:

21. Questions?
Image: