ReThink Your Drink
—script for use without the power point slides
(Refer to your Rethink Your Drink Guide.)
Read: Read: Read:
Today’s objectives are:
1. Think—Ask why you select particular drinks.
2. Choices—Consider your beverage options.
3. Drink—Set goals for your beverages.
Goal: Learn about drink options for you and your family.
Welcome to the Rethink Your Drink Presentation, brought to you by Dairy Council of California.
You already know that it is important to think about foods that are good for you and your families.
Ask:
What about beverages? Are they important for you to think about? (Allow time for responses.)
Answer: Yes, beverages do play an important role in diets and in overall health.
Read: Consider not only what you drink, but also how much you drink.
Serving sizes have increased.
For example, a soda used to come in a 6 ½-ounce bottle.
Today, cans contain 12 ounces, and small-sized bottles contain 20 ounces.
Set out visuals: a 12-ounce can of soda next to a 20-ounce bottle of soda, next to a supersized (64-ounce or greater) cup
to show that several cans equal the quantity of the supersized cup.
Read: Increased serving sizes mean more calories or energy consumed—unless selecting a calorie-free drink, which
we will address later.
Ask: The following questions:
1. How many of you drink only one serving, or eight ounces, from a 20-ounce beverage bottle?
2. Most people finish the whole bottle, which equals 2 ½ servings.
3. Now think about your family members. Do they drink beverages from large containers?
4. What other challenges do you face at home in trying to encourage your families to make healthier
beverage choices? (Let a few people respond.)
Read: We will work on resolving those challenges today.
Read:
This brings us to the importance of reading a beverage label.
Hold up and point to - the label on the 20-ounce bottle.
Read: The serving size tells us how many ounces are in one serving.
The label tells us how many servings are in a container.
Look at the number of calories to see how many calories are in one serving.
Multiply the calories from one serving by the number of servings in the container to find out the total number of calories if you drink the whole bottle of that beverage.
Read: Fun fact—Your stomach holds about four cups and can expand to hold more. Your fist is about the size of one
cup. When drinking a beverage other than water, use your fist as a guide to choose one serving of a beverage
instead of drinking until you are full.
Read: Now let’s discuss three steps to consider when selecting beverages: Think, Choices, Drink.
Think—What influences your beverage choices?
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Raise your hand if any of these influences why you drink beverages other than water.
Ask:
Read: Read: The following questions:
1. Do you drink different beverages depending upon your location—at home, at work or at a restaurant?
2. Do the drinks your children request influence what you drink? Are you influenced by what other adults in
your house drink?
3. Do you choose your drinks because you think they:
Quench your thirst?
Are a healthy choice?
Are low in calories?
Are a good price?
Are easily available?
Bottom line—All of these factors play a role in what you select to drink.
Choose drinks that match your goals for good health.
Let’s talk about three naturally healthy choices: water, milk and juices.
Water is very important for hydration.
Ask:
Read: How many of you drink tap water?
Tap water (as opposed to purchased bottled water) saves money and often contains fluoride for strong teeth.
Bottled water does not usually have fluoride.
The amount of water you need can vary depending on your activity level and the temperature outside. An
easy rule of thumb is to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. But don’t limit yourself if you are thirsty.
Note that sports drinks are not needed unless you or other family members are exercising for more than an
hour.
Ask:
Answer: Read: Why is milk an important beverage?
Milk contains calcium for strong bones and teeth. It is also packed with protein, vitamins and other minerals.
Adults need an average of three servings of Milk & Milk Products each day.
Children need 2 ½ to three servings a day.
It is important to encourage teenagers to consume about three servings a day.
Nearly 90% of girls and 70% of boys fail to consume adequate calcium each day to build bones to maximum
density by their early 20s, when bones are finished growing.
Including milk at meals is an easy way to reach recommended daily servings for the whole family!
Whole milk, low-fat milk and fat-free milk all contain the same amount of calcium, vitamin D and other
important nutrients. Choosing milk products with lower fat allows you to consume fewer calories per serving.
Milk is economical, only about 25 cents per cup, so you really get a nutritional bang for your dollar!
Note about flavored milk—Flavored milk, which does have some added sugar, is a healthy choice. A cup of
flavored milk contains all of the same nutrients as white milk and only averages 30 more calories. Think of it
as sprinkling brown sugar on plain oatmeal.
100% fruit juice and 100% vegetable juice are naturally healthy choices.
Read: Read:
Ask:
How many oranges does it take to make a glass of juice? (Allow several members of the audience answer.)
Answer: It takes about four oranges to make eight ounces of juice.
An eight-ounce glass of juice contains the natural sugar from four oranges. Although natural, it is still a high
concentration of sugar for a beverage.
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Ask:
Would you eat four oranges all at once?
Answer: Probably not. One orange is filling because when you eat it whole you are getting the fiber, too. Fiber is very
important for digestion. Some nutrients from the fruit get lost in the process of making juice, so the whole fruit
also provides more nutrients than juice.
Read: Citrus fruits are high in vitamin C, which helps to keep your immune system strong.
Limit juice to four to six ounces a day.
Make sure when you purchase juice that it is 100% fruit or vegetable juice.
Bottom line—Water, milk and 100% juices are good-for-you beverages, and they taste great, too!
Read: Sugar-Sweetened Beverages—Your children will set lifelong preferences for beverages early in childhood, so
make sure you’re giving them healthy choices.
Limit beverages like soda, sports drinks and energy drinks, which are sweetened with sugar and offer no
nutritional value. Low-sugar versions such as diet soda might seem like a good choice, but they typically have
no nutritional value to offer.
Read: Sugar-sweetened beverages are a major source of extra sugar in our diets, and they are linked with childhood
obesity, which can lead to diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and some types of
cancer.
They can lead to more cavities and tooth decay.
Make nutrient-rich beverages a priority.
Ask:
What are the three nutrient-rich beverages that we spoke about earlier?
Answer: Water, milk and 100% juices.
Ask: Do you know how much added sweetener the average American child consumes in one year? (Pause)
Answer: About 100 pounds a year, which equals about one-quarter of a pound each day! The maximum amount of
sugar that children should eat is six to nine teaspoons a day, yet kids average 28 teaspoons a day.
Show visual aids: created to demonstrate the difference between recommended and actual intakes of added sugar.
Ask:
What can happen if you drink a lot of sugar-containing beverages?
Answer: This may cause weight gain.
Ask:
What can weight gain lead to?
Answer: Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, different types of cancer and tooth decay.
Read: Remember, it is important to establish good habits in early childhood.
Think about how you might answer these requests from your kids:
Ask:
The audience how they might respond to the following questions:
1. Mom, can I have a soda?
2. I’m tired of only getting water after my sports game. Can I have something else?
3. Everyone else is drinking fruit punch. Why can’t I?
Read: In closing:
First ask, “Am I thirsty?”
Rehydrate with water.
Consider whether your beverage choice is nutrient-rich and healthy.
You are a role model. Model healthy habits for your children.
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Read: Bottom line—(Write on a board if available):
Choose most often: Choose Less Often:
Water
Soda
Milk
Sports drinks
100% juice
Energy drinks
Unsweetened beverages
Fruit-flavored drinks
(e.g., teas, coffees)
Sweetened teas, coffees
Ask: (The audience to write down these two questions and their responses.)
What will I drink more?
What will I drink less?
Ask: How can you use food labels to make healthier beverage choices?
Possible answers: Look for 100% juice; watch for sugar and different names for sugar on the Nutrition Facts Panel and
the ingredients list; look for positive nutrients such as calcium, protein and vitamin C.
Ask:
What size glass should you use for juice?
Answer: A six-ounce or no more than an eight-ounce glass, which is one cup.
Ask:
Can you name two healthy drink choices and the benefits of each?
Possible answers: Water, since most of our body is water, and we need it to stay hydrated; milk, which contains calcium,
vitamin D and protein; 100% juice, which contains vitamin C.
Ask:
Is it appropriate to offer kids sports drinks after a game or practice that lasts one hour or less?
Answer: Typically, children are very active for less than one hour, making water the drink of choice. If children are very
active and sweating a lot for more than one hour, then a sports beverage is fine.
Ask:
How many servings of dairy should children and adults have each day?
Answer: Children 9 years and older need three servings of Milk & Milk Products each day.
Children ages 4 to 8 should have 2 ½ cups daily.
Adults need three cups of Milk & Milk Products each day.
NOTE - the tip sheets that are available for download from Dairy Council of California’s website,
www.DairyCouncilofCA.org:
Beverages: Make Every Sip Count (for parents) - Available in English and Spanish
Reach for a Healthy Beverage (for teens and young adults)
©2012 Dairy Council of California
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