In recent years, excessive sugar consumption has become a serious problem in Cambodia. As one of the efforts to prevent obesity and tooth decay, last year, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport instructed all schools to stop selling beverages that contain a lot of sugar at school kiosks. However, these drinks are still available at kiosks or stores located close to the school. In order to help students as well as shopkeepers understand why drinking soft drinks a lot is not good for their health, and to show the amount of sugar contained in these drinks, FIDR has made an experimental video.

It is well known that sugary drinks are sweetened with sugar, but it’s hard to see how much sugar is contained in drinks by simply reading the food labels. In the experiment, the drinks were placed in a small pan on a stove and boiled until all the water evaporates to leave the sugar. The sugar left on the pan was measured on the scale and the amount of sugar of various beverage was compared.

The experiment reveals that these drinks contain an incredible amount of sugar and some energy drinks give off particularly strong smells and discolor because of food dyes.

One of FIDR staff members commented, “I do love energy drinks, so I drink it every day at least two cans. I was surprised when I saw the experiment. I will refrain from drinking too much and share this result with my brother who likes drinking energy drinks.”

The video is intended for a wide range of audiences including teachers, parents and school shopkeepers, and will be disseminated through nutrition education activities and SNS. We hope that it will raise awareness among a wide range of people and help them to choose the healthier options for their healthy lifestyle.