New Zealanders consume 37 teaspoons of added sugar on average every day but the Whanganui District Health Board (WDHB) hopes to do its part to reduce that.
The board will discuss the removal of sugary drinks from Wanganui Hospital shops and cafes at a full board meeting today. Project manager, healthy eating, Anne Kauika said yesterday: "There is some work that will need to be done on how this will be rolled out across DHB sites and what will happen alongside it."
The 37-teaspoon figure comes from the UN Food Balance Data Sheet, which was presented at a FIZZ symposium this year attended by Ms Kauika.
FIZZ is a group of researchers and public health doctors who advocate for ending the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages (sugary drinks) from New Zealand.
"We're talking about sugar, also known as sucrose or table sugar, which is found in many manufactured foods and drinks," Ms Kauika said.