” This campaign is straightforward – sugary drinks are no good for our health.It’s calling on people to drink water instead of sugary drinks.’
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Cape York experience a disproportionate burden of chronic disease compared to other Australians.’
‘Regular consumption of sugary drinks is associated with increased energy intake and in turn, weight gain and obesity. It is well established that obesity is a leading risk factor for diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and some cancers. Consumption of sugary drinks is also associated with poor dental health.
Water is the best drink for everyone – it doesn’t have any sugar and keeps our bodies healthy.’
Apunipima Public Health Advisor Dr Mark Wenitong
Read over 30 NACCHO articles Health and Nutrition HERE
https://nacchocommunique.com/category/nutrition-healthy-foods/
Read over 15 NACCHO articles Sugar Tax HERE
https://nacchocommunique.com/category/sugar-tax/
Apunipima Cape York Health Council launched its Sugary Drinks Proper No Good – Drink More Water Youfla social marketing campaign on Thursday 2 November.
The campaign was developed with, and for, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Cape York, and is supported by the national Rethink Sugary Drink Alliance – a group of organisations, including Apunipima, Diabetes Australia and the Cancer Council, concerned about the health impacts of sugary drinks.
The launch will see the campaign webpage (part of the Rethink Sugary Drink website) go live, and the release of three videos featuring NRL legend Scotty Prince inviting people to Drink More Water Youfla.
Channel 7 News Coverage
#SugaryDrinksProperNoGood and #DrinkMoreWaterYoufla.
VIEW HERE
Media was invited to Apunipima’s Cairns office where the three clips were distributed, a sugary drinks display set up, and Apunipima Public Health Medical Advisor Dr Mark Wenitong was for interview and photos opportunities.
‘This campaign is straightforward – sugary drinks are no good for our health. It’s calling on people to drink water instead of sugary drinks like soft drinks, sports drinks and fruit drinks,’ Dr Wenitong said.
Head of Prevention at Cancer Council Victoria and spokesperson for Rethink Sugary Drink Alliance Craig Sinclair said Apunipima’s campaign was prevention – focused and could save lives.
‘This is a vitally important campaign that has the capacity to not only improve lives but save them.’
‘It may sound simple, but cutting out sugary drinks can have a big impact on your health. Sugary drinks are key contributor to being overweight or obese which puts you at risk of cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and kidney disease. Apunipima Cape York Health Council is to be congratulated for taking this innovative prevention-led approach.’
The campaign was funded by the Australian government via the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN).
‘We’re pleased to be supporting Apunipima in this comprehensive health promotion initiative to address consumption of sugary drinks, which are one of the key contributors to overweight and obesity,’ said NQPHN CEO Mr Robin Moore.
‘Apunipima have a strong track record of developing and undertaking effective health promotion initiatives for our local communities, and are a key agency improving the skills and knowledge of the health promotion workforce across the region.’
‘NQPHN is committed to helping to close the gap and we are confident this initiative will make a significant contribution to that goal.’
Prominent Far Northern doctor calls for Australian sugar tax
A PROMINENT doctor has reignited calls for a sugar tax, in order to prevent the Far North’s chronic disease rate from climbing even higher.
Apunipima Cape York Health Council has launched a federally-funded social media campaign, to discourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from consuming sugary drinks.
The “Sugary Drinks Proper No Good — Drink More Water Youfla” campaign, featuring videos by NRL legend Scotty Prince.
It calls on people to drink water instead of sugary drinks, like soft drinks, sports drinks, and fruit drinks.
The campaign has been launched to tackle the high rate of chronic diseases in the Far North such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Apunipima public health medical advisor Dr Mark Wenitong said a sugar tax placed on junk food and beverages would go a long way to helping reduce this rate.
“We’ve seen this happen in a few South American countries, in Mexico,” he said.
“If those countries can introduce (a sugar tax) as a health benefit to their population, then I don’t see why we can’t.
“I know the beverage industry will often say ‘this will affect the most disadvantaged people, because they’ll have to pay’, our answer to that is, it’s killing most disadvantaged people already, because they’ve got higher risk factors.
“It affects their chronic disease status more than other people in Australia.”
Cairns Hospital, earlier this year, became one of the first hospitals in Queensland to implement strategies to restrict patient and staff access to soft drinks.
Vending machines and the two cafes at the hospital only sell sugar-free soft drinks.
Dr Wenitong said the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service should go an extra step by restricting other junk food being sold at its facilities, like chocolate bars and chips.
“At some stage, I think they’ll have to think about the accessibility of those things, particularly for younger people,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea, by at least making them less visible and less accessible, so kids just don’t see them and want them.”
CHHHS executive director Tina Chinery said they had received no complaints from patients, staff or visitors when their healthier drink strategy was rolled out earlier this year.
“Healthcare facilities play an important role in promoting the health and wellbeing of patients, staff and visitors,” she said.
“Cairns Hospital is leading by example and creating environments that support patients, staff and visitors to make healthy choices easy.”
Yes sugary drinks are bad for health, BUT so is undrinkable water. There are too many places where the only available water is contaminated. Filters and other methods to supply clean water are needed already. Please act for clean water.