Revised Healthy Drinks Healthy Kids Resource

Posted in: Blogs, Healthy Eating

Canada’s new Food Guide recommends making water your drink of choice as a great way to stay healthy and hydrated without calories. Healthy drink options other than water can include unsweetened milk, such as 1% or 2% milk, or unsweetened fortified plant-based beverages such as soy or almond beverages.

Replacing sugary drinks with healthier drink choices can have a large impact on overall health. Canada’s Food Guide considers 100% fruit juice a sugary drink as fruit juices contain large amounts of ‘free sugars.’ These are sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates. To find out more about free sugars, see Section 2 of Canada’s Dietary Guidelines found at: https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/guidelines/section-2-foods-and-beverages-that-undermine-healthy-eating/.

Alberta Health Services has updated the Healthy Drinks Healthy Kids handout to reflect the new Canada’s Food Guide recommendations. This resource is intended to help students and parents learn about healthy drink choices.

The Healthy Drinks Healthy Kids resource accompanies the Sugar Shocker activities as well as the Thirst Quencher lesson in the Nutrition Activities in any Classroom teaching tools. Watch for both of these resources to be updated soon as well.

These resources will all fit well into the health curriculum for many grade levels.

Pat MacIntosh is a Registered Dietitian with Alberta Health Services and can be reached at pat.macintosh@ahs.ca

Tags: drinks, healthy eating, nutrition, resources