Sugary drinks warning signs change habits of US teens

Signs warning shoppers how much exercise they need to do to burn off calories in sugary drinks can encourage healthier choices, US research suggests.

A study of teenagers' purchasing habits found they bought fewer sugary drinks and more water when the signs were up. The most effective sign said it took five miles to walk off the 250 calories in a sugary drink. Public Health England said the study showed simple health messages worked.

Study leader Dr Sara Bleich, associate professor at the Bloomberg School, John Hopkins University, said people do not understand calorie content on its own on a label. "What our research found is that when you explain calories in an easily understandable way such as how many miles of walking is needed to burn them off, you can encourage behaviour change."

For six weeks, the brightly coloured signs were displayed in corner shops in neighbourhoods in Baltimore, in full view of young customers buying sugary drinks. Four different signs were used in the shops. Two translated the calories in the drinks into the amount of exercise needed to burn off those calories. One sign said it would take 50 minutes of running to work off the 250 calories - or 16 teaspoons of sugar - contained in a 590ml bottle of fizzy drink, sports drink or fruit juice. The remaining signs listed the sugar content of the drink and the calories contained in the drink. A can of fizzy drink, which is 330ml in size in the UK, contains around nine teaspoons of sugar.

To find out the impact of the signs, the researchers - writing in the American Journal of Public Health - interviewed children aged between 12 and 18 years old leaving the shop. Out of the 35% of those interviewed who said they saw the signs, 59% said they believed the sign and 40% said their behaviour had changed as a consequence.

Before the signs were put up, 98% of drinks bought in the shops were sugary ones. After six weeks, this was reduced to 89%. The percentage of teenagers who chose to buy no drink at all in the shops increased from 27% to 33%.

 Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a. In he signs you could only see the amount of sugar the drinks contain.

b. The study was carried out in England.

c. More than 50% of teenagers didn’t see the signs.

d. Almost all teenagers used to buy sugary drinks.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a. What kinds of signs were used and where were they shown?

b. What effect did the signs have and how did they find out?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a.) buy (par2)                                       

b.) incite, stimulate (par3)                                                                    

c.)  get rid off (par.4)                                        

d.) trust (par.5)

e.)  preferred (par.6)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a. 59% of the teenagers said they believed the signs so their behaviour had changed.

    They said “ …………………………………………………………………..

b. 89% of the teenagers bought fewer sugary drinks than they used to.

    89% of the teenagers didn’t ……………………………………………….

c. Signs warning shoppers how much exercise they need to do can encourage healthier choices

    Healthier ………………………………………………………………………   

Question 5 (3 points) Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

            Drinking habits in your country