Mr. Speaker, February is Drop the Pop Month in the NWT. Drop the Pop is a partnership that includes Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment and Environment and Natural Resources. We have strong community partners including Northern Stores, the Yellowknife Co-op, the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative and the Food First Society.
This is the fourth year that schools in the Northwest Territories have participated. The event, which raises awareness about the importance of making nutritious and healthy choices, has expanded from one week to two and now is celebrated for the entire month.
Drop the Pop raises awareness amongst students about the alternatives to sugary drinks. Sugary beverages provide no nutrition. A can of pop contains between 9 and 12 teaspoons of sugar. Drinking two cans of pop a day for one week provides about a pound of sugar a week. That's nearly 60 pounds of sugar from pop alone in a year. Drop the Pop is about a lot more than not drinking pop. It’s about helping our students figure out the best, healthiest foods to choose.
Last year, 35 schools participated, using Drop the Pop funding to host a range of fun and informative projects from healthy cooking classes to awareness videos done by the students themselves. Drop the Pop is a lot of fun, and for good reason. Students that receive proper nutrition have an easier time concentrating in school, and are better equipped to get through the day. Even further, if children and young adults can feel good about healthy eating, they aren’t just set for the day, they are set for a lifetime of healthy behaviour.
The reasons for making “real” food choices are provided directly on the Drop the Pop advertising. Good nutrition not only helps with concentration, as I have mentioned, but lowers the risk of diabetes, helps with bone and muscular development, is less wasteful for the environment, and keeps teeth healthy. Healthy food choices are also closer to a traditional lifestyle instead of processed foods.
This year Drop the Pop happens to fall during this session, and I invite other Members to join me in celebrating the spirit of the event, through making our own healthy choices while we work long hours through February. Mahsi.