NYC health officials warn against sweetened drinks
Just a few sweetened drinks can add up to the equivalent of 93 sugar packets by the end of the day, the Health Department said as it launched an education campaign called “Pouring on the Pounds.” (Jan. 14, 2011) Credit: AP
A new video ad released by the city Health Department on Monday shows a man sitting in a diner happily swallowing one sugar packet after another as two customers, sipping sugared sodas, look on in disgust.
Superimposed captions tell viewers: “You’d never eat 16 packs of sugar,” “Why would you drink 16 packs of sugar?” and “There are 16 packs of sugar in one 20 oz. bottle of soda.”
Just a few sweetened drinks can add up to the equivalent of 93 sugar packets by the end of the day, the Health Department said as it launched the 30-second television, a YouTube video and subway poster as part of its latest education campaign called “Pouring on the Pounds.” That is almost 1,400 empty calories of pure sugar — and nearly three-quarters of the daily recommended calories for most adults, it said.
The campaign, which will run through Feb. 22, encourages healthier choices such as a glass of water, fat-free milk, unsweetened tea, seltzer and other drinks with no calories.
“Too many sugar-sweetened drinks are fueling the obesity epidemic. Obesity and the serious health consequences that result are making hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers sick or disabled,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley.
“This new campaign shows how easy it is to drink a staggering amount of sugar in one day without realizing it,” he added.
But he said even small changes can make a big difference.
Farley said Americans on average consume 200 to 300 more calories a day than they did 30 years ago, with almost half coming from sugary drinks. Last year, a Health Department survey found that more than 1.9 million New Yorkers drank at least one sugary drink a day or up to 250 empty calories.
The campaign says the extra calories can bring on obesity, diabetes, heart disease and higher rates of some cancers.
To drive its obesity message home, the Health Department last year released a video that showed a man drinking a glass of goop made to look like fat, with greasy globs appearing on his face. In that campaign, viewer were told that drinking just one can of
soda a day can add up to 10 pounds of weight in a year.
The American Beverage Association called it a “sensationalized video that inaccurately” portrayed industry products that are fat-free.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
