Pupils from Darwen Aldridge Community Academy are taking part in the challenge
Published Thursday 13 February 2020 at 15:18
A campaign launching in schools in Blackburn with Darwen will see pupils, teachers and parents challenged to give up fizzy drinks for a month.
The Give Up Loving Pop campaign is being run by Food Active alongside Blackburn with Darwen Council and will see participants encouraged to switch from sugary drinks to water or milk.
Schools taking part include Darwen Aldridge Community Academy, who have started their drive already, as well as Blackburn Central High School, Our Lady & St John Catholic College and St Bede’s who will all start theirs in the coming weeks.
The campaign involves working with the schools through the delivery of PHSE lessons at Key Stage 3, along with school assemblies suitable for all year groups.
Pictures of pupils pledging to give up pop will be shared on social media and via the Food Active Instagram page. The most posts win £20 Mall vouchers as well as annual passes fro Youth Zone.
Children and young people are consuming more than three times as much sugar as the maximum recommended daily intake, most of which comes from sugary drinks.
Sugar is not necessary in the diet, especially when consumed in the form of sugary drinks, and can cause a host of health issues, from tooth decay, to obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Excess sugar intake has also been linked to certain cancers.
Damian Talbot, Executive Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said:
We are aware of the effects that sugary drinks, especially in the form of energy and sports drinks, can have on health. The GULP campaign will educate our young people in an engaging way about the benefits of switching to water or milk and we hope the messages will be taken home, to impact on family and friends.