Mr Harvey (Food Technology) and Mr Walker (PE) spoke at a recent whole school assembly to highlight a pressing health issue for young people today: sugar. Sugar does not only contribute to weight gain and health issues, but is also found to have an impact on brain function, including poorer memory and reduced overall brain volume.
Sugar does not only contribute to weight gain and health issues, but is also found to have an impact on brain function, including poorer memory and reduced overall brain volume.’
Students learnt about the impact of excess sugar and the correlation between healthy living and success. Ollie S helped to demonstrate that 15 minutes of hard cycling burns approximately 220 calories, while a 175g packet of Haribo Tangfastics is 1,015 calories. The assembly looked at short and long term issues of eating too much of the wrong food and helped to show our students the importance of changing eating habits now to save future issues.
The school will continue our education on healthy and balanced eating to help our students to make healthier choices when faced with the temptations of junk food. One recommendation from the assembly was to download the Change For Life app. The app shows the amount of sugar, saturated fat, salt and calories in food and drink by scanning barcodes. Alerts, tips and hints are given to encourage healthier choices. The app is available on Apple and Google Play:
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/change4life-be-food-smart/id1182946415
Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phe.c4lfoodsmart&hl=en_GB