According to the Center for Disease Control, empty calories from added sugars and solid fats contribute to 40% of daily calories for children and adolescents age 2–18 years—affecting the overall quality of their diets. The majority of these calories came from sodas, fruit drinks and whole milk.  This contributes to children not consuming enough water throughout the day.  In conjunction with the Owsley County School system and the Owsley County Extension Service lessons were taught to fifth graders in hopes of reducing empty calorie consumption.  The curriculum is called “Professor Popcorn”.

     Students were shown the sugar content of their favorite drinks and even calculated the amount of calories per teaspoon of sugar that was included with those drinks.  More than 42% of those fifth grade students had changed their drinking habits by the end of the school year, which included drinking more water each day. One student stated that they had more energy and felt better drinking more water than sugary drinks.