We acknowledge the traditional owners of our lands and pay respects to all Elders, past and present.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities rethink sugary drinks
Sugary drinks have too much sugar in them. We know our mob drink heaps, with more than half of us drinking sugary drinks almost every day a. All that sugar can make you gain weight which may lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. We've created a collection of resources and campaign materials for our Community .
Together we can make a real difference to the health of our people. Everything on this site you can use to help cut out sugary drinks for you, your family and Community.
Go on – take the challenge!
aAustralian Bureau of Statistics 2015, Australian Health Survey: Nutrition First Results, available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/
Videos
Tips
- Keep chilled water in your fridge in jugs or bottles
- Carry a water bottle with you
- Add fresh lemon slices or other pieces of fruit to your water to give it some taste
- Drink water before you feel thirsty
- If you're drinking a lot of sugary drinks, start by swapping one for water
- Have water on your table at dinner time
Gallery
Resources
Find out what organisations are doing to promote water over sugary drinks!
2022
- Lakes Entrance Aboriginal Health Association have taken the pledge and will be sugary drink free at programs and events.
- Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative have taken the pledge and will be promoting water to community members through events, programs and services.
- Ramahyuck District Aboriginal Co-operative Sale: On our fridge in the kitchen we have posters of sugar content in sugary drinks. We always have water available for community to access and promote water at health promotion days.
- Gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative: In 2022 we will we be focusing on helping community to maintain a healthy weight, drink water and avoid sugary drinks. This will include videos on social media on the benefits of water and how we can work together to reach our daily intake of water.
- Perridak Burron Early Learning have taken the pledge and are encouraging children to drink water and bring water in with them every day. We also talk about healthy drinks and how water helps keep our body energised.
2021
- Nairm Marr Djambana - Frankston Gathering Place have taken the pledge and will be delivering a program for community and will be reinforcing the ‘drink water u mob’ message through the online sessions. When we hold community events we promote and have tap water freely available. We do not give out sugary drinks nor do we allow others to sell or give them out at community events.
- VAHS: has pledged to hold sugary drink free events for community.
2018
Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-Op have partnered with Spark Health to bring I Dare Ya, a brand new health and well-being program, to life in the Geelong region. Throughout this six week program we will be taking on Six Deadly Dares together that will give us simple and sustainable tools to kick-start and keep a healthy lifestyle. Everyone is welcome to join I Dare Ya! We love seeing kids taking part in programs, it's never too early to start those healthy habits! Kids under 16 years of age require a guardian to supervise their participation. Each week we will take on a different health topic to help us reach our goals before getting moving. We have something for every fitness level.
Storm Health and Fitness: Our vision is to use movement therapeutically to create spaces for our community to become stronger and healthier to create lasting positive change. To do this we need to and we do encourage all of our members to drink water and abstain from sugary drinks so they can achieve their health and fitness goals. I coach them all the time about the importance of water in achieving optimal health and weight loss.
Victoria Police Bendigo & Echuca: In my program I am the Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer for the Division 5, I work with youth at risk and plan and run events across the division. We have multiple events that we will be running over the next 6 months that will be encouraging the mob to stop drinking and also family violence meetings and we would like to distribute these across the division. We plan on using these on our youth days and camps to assist us to encourage these youth to give up alcohol and sugary drinks and to improve their way of life.
Mallee District Aboriginal Services: As part of maternal and child health consults regularly advice regularly importance of water and reducing or cutting out sweet drinks.
The Centre of Excellence for Aboriginal Health in Gippsland conducts two camps per year. Camp Marook promotes healthy living, health careers and provides activities which increase knowledge and wellbeing. We target primary school children who are interested in learning and participating in activities which teach them about not smoking, eating healthy, healthy activities and career knowledge of health careers.
Luke beats sugary drink 'addiction' and sheds 30kg
Luke Sultan used to drink Coke a couple of times a week without thinking about how much sugar it contained. Now he doesn't drink Coke or other sugary drinks at all – and he feels great for it.
The 39-year-old who is originally an Eastern Arrernte and Gurindji man from Central Australia says his health and a desire to lose weight motivated him to cut back.
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You'll be seeing this amazing piece of work on our promotional products, supporting our positive water message with Cultural strength.
Title: 4 Rivers
By: Kim Kennedy
Supported by The Torch Project www.thetorch.org.au
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