The Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Work Group identified the following priorities for action planning related to promotion and access to drinking water in schools, healthy food procurement, and default beverage options for children’s meals.

• Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages
• Establish healthy food procurement policies that support public and private investment in healthy food, and increase availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks
• Recommend NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) adopt a statewide policy permitting students to bring water bottles to school (containing only water)
• Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety
• Limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water
• Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools and parks

The Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Work Group identified the following potential short-term and long-term strategies to move the priorities forward.

• Priority: Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Encourage health education teachers include "Rethink Your Drink" in their curriculum.
    • Connect to healthful living curriculum standards.
    • Incorporate into classroom curriculum (Healthful Living Standards and Resources).
    • Connect WIC with "Rethink Your Drink" toolkit resources.
    • Provide information to schools for E-letters, social media, health fairs.
    • Have key agencies like NC Nutrition and Dietetics or NC Pediatric Society hold a press conference to educate about sweet beverages and their alternatives.
    • Have a resolution signed by the Governor to declare a “Rethink your Drink” day.
  • Long-Term Strategies:
    • North Carolina Dental Society to include literature in their bags for patients.
    • North Carolina Pediatric Society/ NC Academy of Family Physicians
    • Social Marketing campaigns showing oral health issues due to sugar-sweetened beverage consumption.
• Priority: Establish healthy food procurement policies that support public and private investment in healthy food, and increase availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Encourage following the policies public schools have in place for healthy options during school hours, after dismissal, at athletic events, etc.
  • Long-Term Strategies:
    • NC Alliance for Health is lobbying for long-term change.
    • Priority selection of entities seeking procurement that promote healthy beverages.
• Priority: Recommend NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) adopt a statewide policy permitting students to bring water bottles to school (containing only water)
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Work through PTAs, PE teachers, school nurses, etc.
  • Long-Term Strategies:
    • Mobilize parent groups, educators, and school nurses.
• Priority: Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Identify allies to promote this message among decision-makers.
  • Long-Term Strategies:
    • More water filling stations at schools, community colleges, state government facilities, and other places that people are and ensuring they are safe.
• Priority: Limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Bring restauranters and food service operators together to share resources and educational pieces.
  • Long-Term Strategies:
    • Commitments for food suppliers "we have made a commitment to kids health."
• Priority: Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools and parks
  • Short-Term Strategies:
    • Advocate for contracts to have language about healthy choice options (could include labeling, marketing, advertising, pricing; training for people that stock the machines that meet the healthy criteria)
    • Education

May 1, 2023, 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Work Group Meeting

Co-Leads: Alice Ammerman, Jayne McBurney, Tish Singletary; Absent: Fiorella Horna

Attendees: Courtney Ramsey-Coleman, Crystal Adams, Lisa Shock, Sarah Tomlinson, Tracy Bates, Yasmine “Yaz” Shepard

Discussion:

• Reviewed the top six policies and revised as needed.
  • Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as healthy alternative to sweetened beverage
  • Establish healthy food procurement policies that support public and private investment in healthy food, and increase availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks
  • Recommend NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) adopt a statewide policy permitting students to bring water bottles to school (containing only water).
  • Ensure access to safe/ clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety.
  • Limit “default beverage” options for  meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water
  • Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at (schools) and parks
• Discussed the following questions for each of the six top policy priorities. The responses from the asset mapping worksheet and meeting chat are included after the notes.
  • What are recommendations for lead agencies for this policy work?
  • What would be short-term strategies to move this policy forward?
  • What would be long-term strategies to move this policy forward?
  • What are additional assets needed?
  • What sources of funding are and/or may be available for this policy initiative?
• Next steps were for work group members to add any additional responses to the asset mapping questions. The Co-Leads will meet to review the responses to discuss strategies and action planning.

January 23, 2023, 1:00 to 2:30 pm, Work Group Meeting

Co-Leads: Alice Ammerman and Jayne McBurney; Absent: Fiorella Horne and Tish Singletary

Attendees: Lisa Shock, Mary Anne Burghardt, Sarah Blanton, Tracy Bates, and Yasmine Shepard “Yaz”

Discussion:

• Reviewed and continued discussion of policies identified as priorities:
  • Consider “price point pain,” including who gets what to sell sugar-sweetened beverage products (excise taxes, sales taxes, etc.) instead of implementing a SSB tax
  • Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” DCD and SNAP-Ed toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as healthy alternative to sweetened beverages
  • Ensure access to safe and clean water
  • Implement healthy choice beverages in vending machines at parks
• Discussed policy not reviewed during the previous work group meeting:
  • Limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals in restaurant and educational settings to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water 
• Set next steps to rank the priorities in early April before the next work group meeting on May 1, 2023.

October 10, 2022, 1:00 to 3:00 pm, Work Group Meeting

Co-Leads: Alice Ammerman, Jayne McBurney, and Tish Singletary; Absent: Fiorella Horna

Attendees: Courtney Ramsey-Coleman, Mary Anne Burghardt, Sarah Blanton, Sarah Tomlinson, Susanne Schmal, Yasmine Shepard, and Zachary Brian

Discussion:

• Reviewed the purpose of the meeting was to review the proposed policy initiatives from the North Carolina State Health Improvement Plan (NC SHIP), identify which were most important to focus on, share what the Community Council does, discuss partners to add to the work group, and review the next meetings. 
• Provided an overview of the NC SHIP Community Council and Healthy North Carolina 2030.
• Reviewed and discussed the policy initiatives for sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption. The highest priorities discussed included:
  • Access to safe clean water
  • Consider “price point pain,” including who gets what to sell sugar-sweetened beverage products (excise taxes, sales taxes, etc.)
  • Implement healthy choice beverages in vending machines at parks
  • Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” DCD and SNAP-Ed toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as healthy alternative to sweetened beverages
• Identified additional partners and/or agencies to invite to join the work group and provide additional information on the priority areas.

August 22, 2022, 10:00 to 12:00 pm, Co-Lead Planning Meeting

Co-Leads: Alice Ammerman, Fiorella Horna, Jayne McBurney, and Tish Singletary

Discussion:

• Discussed and added to the list of potential work group members.
• Reviewed proposed policy initiatives from the NC SHIP for Indicator 13: Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and discussed the process for prioritization.
• Reviewed next work group meeting dates.