Bad rap for school soft drinks
A South Auckland school is vowing to become sugar-free, and is getting some help from a hip-hop legend to do it.
Tangaroa College in O¯ tara is one of four schools taking part in a new research programme about students’ sugar consumption.
The scheme is run by University of Auckland epidemiologist Dr Gerhard Sundborn. Students learn how much sugar is used in drinks and food.
Sundborn visited the decile 1 college with hip-hop artist Che Fu – a type 2 diabetic.
He said to prevent type 2 diabetes and heart disease, it was essential to look at ‘‘what we’re eating or drinking’’.
Sugar was now accepted as one of the ‘‘most harmful’’ ingredients in our food, and ‘‘we consume so much sugar in New Zealand’’, Sundborn said.
Che Fu said he took his sugar levels seriously. ‘‘I used to be a heavy Coca-Cola drinker ... so I can relate to young people who are facing unhealthy consequences from those types of drinks.’’
He said he ate ‘‘way better now’’ and did regular exercise.
‘‘Hopefully these young people won’t do what I did. If I had known the facts, I might have taken a different route.’’
Sundborn said the average Kiwi child consumes about 30 teaspoons of sugar a day. Three teaspoons should be the maximum.
‘‘A quarter of the sugar ... comes from sugary drinks so by moving to water, they’re going to cut out their sugar by 26 per cent.’’
Tangaroa College is also making changes to its tuck shop and has established a health council.