A new campaign has been kicked off in New York to promote healthy eating in an attempt to tackle the growing obesity crisis. It is estimated that 15 billion gallons of the soda is drunk in America each year which massively contributes to the obesity problem. The new campaign is designed to shock with the aim of making people realize that they are essentially poisoning their bodies with sugar and fat and slowly killing themselves.
“We really wanted to make a statement and grab people’s attention,” said Cathy Nonas, director of the city health department’s Physical Activity and Nutrition Programs.
In recent years a lot of new laws have been passed to encourage healthier eating. For example, the Mayor of New York has already forced coffee shops, restaurants and fast-food outlets to display calorie information on menus, he also contracted fruit vendors to work in poor neighborhoods and has given incentives for small stores to sell fresh fruit and vegetables.
People are consuming about 300 calories more each day than they did 30 years ago. Soda accounts for a large part of that increase. The average glass of soda contains 17 teaspoons of sugar. Many people would not be overweight if they just stopped drinking soda. America invented cola drinks and made a fortune, but now it is paying a much higher price.
According to the latest US government statistics, 32.2% of American adults and 17.1% of children are clinically obese.
The Pouring on the Pounds campaign is set to run for just 3 months on the New York subway. If successful it could spread across America.
How Much Sugar is in Your Soda?
Image source: NYC Health
For more information on NYC health initiatives: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/home/home.shtml