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Ban Cola?
Equipping the Next Generation for Active Engagement in Science
fizzy
drink

2. 2
Objectives
To use what you know about food
and health in a new context.
To decide whether there is enough
evidence to show that a factor causes
a disease.

3. 3STARTER
Should we ban
sugary drink sales
to under–18s?

4. 4
39 g
(10 packets)
How much sugar is
in a cola bottle?
4STARTER

5. 5
So do sugary drinks
cause obesity?
Jed drinks lots of sugary
drinks. He becomes obese.
5CORE TASK
Big question

6. 6
Sort the evidence that
sugar causes obesity:
Is there enough evidence to ban
sugary drink sales to under–18s?
weak evidence
SS1
strong evidence
CORE TASK

7. 7
Will they ever
agree?
Scientists will be more
confident that sugary
drinks cause obesity if
they can explain how.
What’s the conclusion?
It’s uncertain. Not all scientists agree.
7PLENARY 1

8. 8
David Cameron, Prime Minister
SS2
EXTENSION
Weigh up the pros
and cons.
Do you support
a ban?
We are considering a ban on fizzy drink sales
to under-18s. What do you think?

9. 99PLENARY
Were all your reasons
scientific?
What else did you think
about when making your
decision?

10. Get students talking and thinking

11. For more, visit EngagingScience.eu
Student sheets
Ban cola
Sheet no. Title Notes
SS1 Evidence cards Reusable, cut into cards, one per group
SS2 Argument cards Reusable, cut into cards, one per group

12. SS1
Evidence cards
Dr Hoebel found that
when rats drink sugary water,
their brains release
a hormone, dopamine. This
gives a feeling of pleasure,
leading to addiction.
He says that this shows that
sugar is addictive to rats.
Strong or weak evidence?A
Alan Barclay of the Australian
Diabetes Council said that
sugar consumption in Australia
has decreased by 20% since
1980.
In the same time the number of
overweight people has
doubled, and the number of
people with diabetes has
tripled.
Magalie Lenoir of Bordeaux
University gave rats the
choice of sweetened water or
cocaine. 94 % chose
sweetened water.
She thinks this is because
sweet foods trigger reward
signals in the brain.
Peter Benton of Swansea
University read more than
100 scientific papers to find
out if sugar addiction is a
cause of obesity.
He concluded that animal
addictions
do not predict
human addictions.
Robin Lustig of California
University found that sugar
is like alcohol and tobacco.
It acts on the brain to
make you want it again.
The World Health
Organisation says that
too much food and drink
overall increase body
weight, not just too much
sugar.
University scientist Francesco
Sartor asked
11 slim people to drink more
sugary drinks than normal.
After four
weeks they
were 1 kg
heavier on
average.
Richard Johnson of Florida
University drew this graph.
The top line shows sugar
intake per person. The
bottom line shows obesity
rates.
Strong or weak evidence?B Strong or weak evidence?C Strong or weak evidence?D
Strong or weak evidence?E Strong or weak evidence?F Strong or weak evidence?G Strong or weak evidence?H
Sugarconsumption
(kg/individual)
Year
Obesityprevalence(%)

13. SS2
Argument cards
“Excess weight is linked to
heart disease and diabetes.”
1
“The acid and sugar
in sugary drinks cause terrible
tooth decay.”
Beth Bradshaw, Dentist
“Obesity is a complex
problem with many causes.
A sugary drink sales ban to
under-18s will make no
difference.”
Ahmed Hussain, British Soft
Drinks Association
“At our school,
behaviour used to be better in
the mornings.
Then we banned sugary drinks
at lunchtime. Afternoon
behaviour improved.”
Sarah Sandford, headteacher
“Every year, more people die
from diseases like diabetes and
heart disease than from
infectious diseases.”
Grace Mlokozi, United Nations,
2011
“We got 51 students to rinse their
mouths with lemonade. Some
lemonade was sweetened with
sugar, and some with artificial
sweetener.
The students with sugary
lemonade did better in
concentration tests.”
Matthew Sanders,
University of Georgia, USA
“Governments control
alcohol and tobacco sales
because they are hard to avoid
and they have a bad impact on
society.
Sugar has similar problems.”
Thomas Babor, University of
Harvard, USA
“Nearly 7000 students did
a questionnaire for us.
We found that banning sugary
drinks in schools did not reduce
the amount they drank overall.”
Daniel Taber University of
Illinois, USA
2 3 4
5 6 7 8
Heart attacks and body weight
Healthy Overweight Obese
Percentagewhohavehadheartattack
Jessica Wright, West Virginia, USA
Diabetes and body weight
Healthy Overweight Obese
Percentagewithdiabetes
Weight category

14. Get students talking and thinking

15. Equipping the Next Generation for Active Engagement in Science