Sugar free – is it feasible?

Of course we need sugar and unlike the title of the blog, being totally sugar free is unrealistic. It is important though to consume less sugar. This is especially true for our children.

The school year is over but it has been an event filled one. This year the government had placed a school wide ban on drinks with high sugar content.  The reason for this was the high rate of preventable illnesses related to poor nutrition.

A lot of parents give children sweets as a reward for good behaviour and this can become a life long habit. In schools, children might not be sold actual sweets but the sugar content in their drink is usually very high.

Teenagers are usually insistent that they must have their daily supply of  sodas sometimes referred to as ‘soft drinks’. A typical carbonated soft drink will have 200 calories in a 16-ounce serving. All of those calories come from sugar, and sugar contains 16 calories per teaspoon. By this measurement, a 16-ounce serving contains 12.5 teaspoons of sugar.

If you were to get a 16-ounce glass, a teaspoon and place 12 teaspoons of sugar into the glass would you offer it to your child? Of course not because that sounds too much right? Now here is the scary part  multiply that amount by however many sodas your child typically consume in a day.

That’s a lot of sugar!

Realistic goals?

Is it realistic though to assume that reducing the number of sugary drinks in schools will affect students’ choices outside of school?

Well consumers are creatures of habit.  If children routinely drink sugary drinks they become accustomed to them and will encourage their parents to buy them in grocery stores.

Parents also become caught in the routine and end up buying drinks that they know that their children will enjoy.  Some sugary drinks are also cheaper than their healthier counterpart that has less sugar content. So it must be habit why consumers buy the same options as they know that children don’t need that much sugar.

Success

The sugar free options can work as there are many benefits of reducing sugar in our diet. Consumers who demand lower sugar content will also push manufacturers to comply with their wishes.

The drive to remove sugary drinks from schools might even encourage manufacturers to lower their sugar content. After all schools are a good contract to have a steady supply so it would be an incentive to increase profit by getting with the healthy movement.

So what’s your take? Is it feasible to sell drinks with less sugar? Let me hear from you!

Teri Ann Renee Paisley

Gleaner online writer

Tags: profit, schools, sugar