A West Auckland student has lost over 40 kilograms after his school banned sugary drinks and replaced them with water.
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hoani Waititi Marae banned all sugary drinks from its school in 2017.
For student Tiraroa Tyson Hetaraka the results have been substantial.
“When I started drinking just water I was weighing in at 145kgs. At present, I weigh 102kgs,” he told Te Karere.
Principal Hare Rua says the school's teachers have seen a significant difference among the students.
“In the afternoons, they noticed a significant change in the students’ energy levels.
“Because they weren’t allowed to consume sugar drinks anymore that would cause them to peak fast and crash in the afternoons. That’s what sugar drinks do.”
Māori Public Health, Hāpai Te Hauora, is putting out a challenge to the Ministry of Health to ban sugary drinks following the school’s success.
“We have requested that the Government and the country put a ban on sugar drinks within all schools across the nation,” Hāpai Te Hauora’s Janell Dymu-Kurei told Te Karere.
According to New Zealand Statistics, one in eight children suffer from obesity.
Ms Dymus-Kurei believes the initiative to replace fizzy drinks with water will help lower those statistics.
“Māori children and Māori families dominate obesity statistics and other related illness such as diabetes.”
The Ministry of Health says they encourage all schools to become water only schools.
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