Sugary Beverages In Schools

Introduction

Do sugary-beverages have an effect on the health and emotions of high school students at De La Salle Holy Cross College High School Johannesburg?

Sugary-beverages are drinks that contain added sugars, usually in large amounts. The calories in these beverages contain almost no nutrients and can easily lead to huge problems such as weight gain, diabetes, tooth decay, heart disease as well as general bad health. Though most people do not pay attention to or are not aware of the dangers of consuming these drinks and the amount of sugar they contain, which easily adds up to twice the amount of sugar than is recommended as the total daily intake.

It has been proposed that sugary-beverages can weaken the learning abilities and memory

In a survey that was done, 77% of teenagers at a school had consumed a sugary-beverage in the past week and 27% had consumed one daily. Just one can of a sugary-beverage such as soda can contain up to 140 calories as well as 40 grams of sugar which is approximately ten heaped teaspoons of sugar, this is still one teaspoon more than the recommendation of nine teaspoons of sugar daily. These large amounts can cause problems possibly detrimental to health and the emotions of teenagers who already have raging hormones.

The effects of insulin in the body is also dangerous and can cause problems in future. Eating a large amount of sugar causes a spike in glucose levels resulting in a “high” but once no more sugar is introduced into the body, glucose levels start to diminish. Following this the pancreas starts to secrete insulin in order to get extra sugar to the cells of the body, however too much insulin leads to a depletion of normal glucose levels. This causes an immediate “low” leaving you feeling fatigued, shaky and possibly

• Whether these drinks have an effect on the learning abilities, performance and concentration of students during classes.

• If these drinks affect the way teenagers feel (lethargic or tired).

• Whether the consumption of these drinks should be watched more closely or limited in order to improve the overall performance of students.

Motivation:

I chose this particular topic as I have recently become very aware of my sugar intake and how much sugar is contained in certain food products or drinks especially in beverages. I have seen how many people in De La Salle have sugary-beverages daily and how certain students may have even more than one daily. I have personally realized the effects of sugar in my life as in the past and as a child I never ate too healthily as I did not realize the amount of sugar I was consuming. I have realized how addicted sugar had become and how it had been affecting me physically, because of my bad eating habits and the amount of sugar consumed in the past I have struggled with skin problems for most of my high school experience. I have also seen how eating or drinking sugary items or just having a lot of sugar in general makes me feel lazy, lethargic and also tends to leave me feeling worse than I thought it would compared to eating or drinking something that is healthy and sugar-free. I would also like to explore the long term effects that can lead to serious health issues