The Family & Consumer Sciences Agent, Lora Davidson in Harlan County hosted a program to help participants “Think Your Drink” to gain a better understanding of how many calories we consume just by what we drink. According to the CDC in Harlan County, 36.5% of the adult population is obese and 39.5% reported no leisure-time exercise. 

The program hosted 32 male participants in which I taught about the importance of reading labels and understanding the difference in the way our body processes food vs. drinks, learning to make better drinking choices, how we drink our calories, and making water the beverage choice. During the program, it was also discussed the importance of exercise and being physically active in some manner every day. The results are listed below:

Prior to the program, 63% of the participants stated that they could recognize a sugar-sweetened beverage and after 100% could recognize a sugar-sweetened beverage.

74% stated before that they know the consequences of consuming too many sugar-sweetened beverages and 100% could after the program.

78% knew the recommended daily intake of sugar prior to the program and 100% after.

70% were able to identify added sugar on a nutrition label or ingredient list and 96% were able to identify after the program. 

74% prior to the program knew the importance of making water the beverage of choice and 96% could recognize the need after the program. 

Along with that 96% planned to make a behavior change in relation to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages by one or more per day, substituting water as the drink of choice once or more per day, read nutrition labels and make overall healthier beverage choices. 

Some comments made were: "My wife and I drink a lot of fruit juices at home, we did not realize how high in calories juice was to drink, we will be eating more fruit instead of drinking it."  " Helped me realize that my kids and I were drinking too much soda."  "Better understanding of overall health issues and importance of them."