My practicum is at the Tewksbury Health Department in the town of Tewksbury in Massachusetts. I am creating and implementing community nutrition projects for children ages 5 to 12 at the Public Library, seniors at the Tewksbury senior center and at the food pantry. With the board of heath team, we set a table at the Tewksbury’s Annual Bike Rodeo and Health Fair, Sunday June 3rd 2018 from 10 am to 1 pm at the Tewksbury Memorial High School. This event was sponsored by the Tewksbury Police Department and the Tewksbury Health Department.

I created and presented a poster which demonstrates the sugar contents of the commonly consumed drinks as well as the harmful effects of sugar on health. Parents and children were very interested and surprised by how much sugar there is in the commonly consumed drinks. They were interested in the visual demonstration of sugar content, asked questions and talked about the drinks that they usually consume. Frappuccino from Starbucks contains 66 grams of sugar, that’s 13 teaspoons of sugar, Monster Energy 50 grams (10 teaspoons), Red Bull 27 grams (5.4 teaspoons), Coca-Cola 39 grams (7.8 teaspoons), Gatorade 34 grams (6.8 teaspoons), Snapple 23 grams (4.6 teaspoons), Capri-Sun 18 grams (3.6 teaspoons), TruMoo flavored milk which is distributed daily in schools contains 22 grams (4.4 teaspoons) and Vitamin Water 31 grams (6.2 teaspoons). The poster also describes that sugar trigger weight gain, raise inflammation, raise blood sugar, increase risk of heart disease, diabetes and gout.

A teacher who was attending the fair was very interested and took a photo so that she can show it to her students in class. I also provided a bag of white sugar, teaspoons and cups for anyone who wanted to measure the amounts of sugar. We also provided handouts ” 40 Things to Know about Sugary Drinks” and  “Sodas and Energy Drinks What Everyone Should Know”. It was a great learning experience.

Iman Djarraya, MBChB, BMedSci, CHC

MPH Nutrition Graduate Student at UMass Amherst