Shocking: how much sugar is in different soft drinks
As adults, we may be aware of the enormous amounts of sugar you consume when you regularly drink soft drinks or energy drinks, but for teenagers it often goes ‘in one ear and out the other’. The Prime energy drink may have been banned by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA), but it is still widely available. But well-known soft drinks also contain enormous amounts of sugar—just take a look…
And sugar cubes make this very concrete. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre therefore created a poster showing the equivalent number of sugar cubes in different drinks.
Increasing numbers
The lineup starts with water and then moves via flavoured water and light soft drinks (all zero cubes) to the heavier stuff. However, light soft drinks are not included in the Wheel of Five because of the acids they contain, which damage tooth enamel.
Habitual behaviour
According to Liesbeth Velema, an expert in nutrition and behaviour, it is worrying that overweight is increasing among young people. “They do not eat less for the rest of the day, even though they have already consumed a lot of calories through these drinks,” says Velema. And: “We make choices about what we eat and drink throughout the day, but those choices are often habitual behaviour. This sugar-cube poster can make young people aware of the (un)healthiness of drinks and thereby encourage new habits, such as choosing water more often.”
From an early age
The Netherlands Nutrition Centre hopes that schools, as well as dietitians, GP surgeries and dental practices, will order and display the posters, so they can clearly show young people what they are consuming. There is also a version featuring drinks consumed by even younger children, such as Fristi and apple juice.
Of course, every now and then you should choose something you really fancy, and if that happens to be a glass of cola from time to time: go for it. But drinking a sugary drink like that every single day is something the Netherlands Nutrition Centre wants to steer young people away from.
Read also:
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- Don’t fall for it! Ginger shots? You’re being seriously ripped off
