On April 22^nd, 2019, Framingham State University dietetic student Melissa Sybertz met with a sixth grade health class in the Hopkinton Public School District and provided education regarding added sugars in beverages. As noted in the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, as well as MyPlate, limiting added sugars in the diet should be part of a healthy lifestyle. Encouraging healthy eating at a young age will help reduce risk of illness and chronic disease as outlined in the district’s Wellness Policy.

Melissa discussed added sugars and taught students how to identify alternative names for added sugars found on the ingredient list of the food label.

Students were also educated on how to convert the grams of sugar found on the food label to teaspoons of sugar. After, the students were given nutrition facts labels of various drinks and used this new skill to calculate teaspoons of sugar in their respective drinks. With this information, they then lined up sugar packets to show how much sugar were their assigned beverages. Students were bewildered by the amount of added sugar in these drinks and discussed their concerns as a group.

For more information concerning added sugars and other resources that promote lifelong health, please visit The John C. Stalker Institute of Food and Nutrition’s Resource Center.

Submitted by: Melissa Sybertz; FSU Food and Nutrition student, Скоординированная программа по диетологии.