Hello! My name is Gauri Karnik. I am a Sodexo Dietetic Intern within the distance program from Santa Clara, California. I’m currently finishing my food service rotation at Broadcom, a tech organization in San Jose. I recently completed a few of my community rotation hours at various organizations such as Senior Nutrition Program and Department of Public Health for the County of Santa Clara. Each experience has been full of incredible opportunities, but one of the best moments so far was developing an activity and event table during my community rotation with the Santa Clara County Public Health Department (SCCPHD). The event was the “Health and Wellness Fair” conducted by Employee Wellness Division of the County of Santa Clara for the county employees. The fair was organized at four different locations with the number of people visiting the table ranging from 500-600 per fair.
A short time ago SCCPHD announced the launch of “Cut the Sugar,” a locally developed campaign to encourage residents to consume water or milk instead of sugary drinks that are uniquely harmful to health. In Santa Clara County, the Public Health Department estimates that more than half of adults have diabetes or prediabetes and also obesity is on rise. The burden of chronic diseases associated with sugary drinks – diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay – inspired me to select a “Rethink Your Drink” theme for the employee wellness fair.
To make audience aware of the sugar content in their favorite drink, I designed a “Guess the Sugar” game. For the activity, I selected the 12 most popular sugary drinks among adults such as Boba tea (sweet tea with tapioca pearls), green tea, soda, bottled smoothies, and energy/sports drinks. To make it realistic, I created pouches as per the amount of sugar in teaspoons in the drink. Participants were required to spin the wheel and guess the sugar content of the drink. As a reward, participants won a mini night light. Also, to keep the audience hydrated in the warm weather, water was provided.
Leading up to the event, I was little nervous. I had never tabled an event on such a large scale. However, on the day of the event, I had a great time and the audience did as well. I was pleased with the audiences’ reactions to the activity, and that indirectly encouraged me to share more information about nutrition and also made me comfortable. Multiple people said that they were shocked to discover the amount of sugar in their favorite drink. Some of the common quotes were: “No more Frappuccino from tomorrow." "Oh no, I didn't know Boba tea contains so much sugar.” This is exactly the response I was hoping for! It felt amazing to share my knowledge of nutrition with the community. As a future RD, I feel it is my responsibility to make the community aware of the effects of consuming sugary drinks and to suggest alternatives.
A short time ago SCCPHD announced the launch of “Cut the Sugar,” a locally developed campaign to encourage residents to consume water or milk instead of sugary drinks that are uniquely harmful to health. In Santa Clara County, the Public Health Department estimates that more than half of adults have diabetes or prediabetes and also obesity is on rise. The burden of chronic diseases associated with sugary drinks – diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay – inspired me to select a “Rethink Your Drink” theme for the employee wellness fair.
To make audience aware of the sugar content in their favorite drink, I designed a “Guess the Sugar” game. For the activity, I selected the 12 most popular sugary drinks among adults such as Boba tea (sweet tea with tapioca pearls), green tea, soda, bottled smoothies, and energy/sports drinks. To make it realistic, I created pouches as per the amount of sugar in teaspoons in the drink. Participants were required to spin the wheel and guess the sugar content of the drink. As a reward, participants won a mini night light. Also, to keep the audience hydrated in the warm weather, water was provided.
Leading up to the event, I was little nervous. I had never tabled an event on such a large scale. However, on the day of the event, I had a great time and the audience did as well. I was pleased with the audiences’ reactions to the activity, and that indirectly encouraged me to share more information about nutrition and also made me comfortable. Multiple people said that they were shocked to discover the amount of sugar in their favorite drink. Some of the common quotes were: “No more Frappuccino from tomorrow." "Oh no, I didn't know Boba tea contains so much sugar.” This is exactly the response I was hoping for! It felt amazing to share my knowledge of nutrition with the community. As a future RD, I feel it is my responsibility to make the community aware of the effects of consuming sugary drinks and to suggest alternatives.
