Wednesday June 18, 2008 | 9 comments
Can one industry come together to reduce the ever-growing rates of obesity? With obesity at an all-time high there is no better time than NOW! Will the TEA industry rise to meet this challenge?
This is what fellow STI (Specialty Tea Institute) member, Dharlene Fahl-Brittian from TAKE UP THE CUP, was asking at the World Tea Expo from her exhibit booth. She has created a self-esteem and self-empowerment program for overweight teens and ‘tweens and she is requesting the help of our industry. Having been an overweight child and teen and morbidly obese herself eight years ago, she says, “Obesity is about self-value and self-worth, and not just about diet and exercise.”
She is asking for our entire industry to take a stand behind the health benefits and weight-loss properties of our beverage and get out into our communities and make a difference. She is looking for support with her program – The Lean Teen Self-Esteem program, and, is also encouraging others in the industry to get involved with the many obesity related programs already in existence in most communities. She can be reached through her sites, www.TakeUpTheCup.com and www.LeanTeenSelfEsteem.org. Email dharlene@takeupthecup.com.
Is there specific medical info that shows that tea helps with weight loss or appetite suppression? Or is it more that it can be a low calorie, healthy alternative to the high fructose sweetened standard fare that our younger generation(S) have grown up on?
I think this is a great idea. It seems those flavored teas I talked about over on my blog would be perfect for trying to curb kids appetites for candy, etc. They might also be more inclined to drink tea if it wasn’t the regular stuff (more of “designer flavors” type thing).
An interesting photo on the front page; two overweight teenage girls with the backdrop of sickeningly thin mannequins in the store window and an older man looking at them with ‘whatever’ kind of look he has there.
Food has become entertainment in this country; chefs are celebs. Our sweetening is pure cane sugar when it is sweetened and I hope we can make tea appealing without it to kids. They’re going from coffee to tea (teenagers are REALLY into tea where we are)..so who knows.
So glad to hear the teens have caught the wave with tea in your neck of the woods. Given our experience at our local high school, I’m very encouraged.
Yes Eric, there is research evidence about the weight loss properties of tea. It’s not an overwhelming effect, but it is there. I wrote a post about it at the beginning of the year which you can read to get more details about the research.
Team, it’s great to hear consensual validation from your experience with tea drinking teens as well.
Today was the last day of Final Exams for the year; and an entire class requested tea, to “mellow us out so we do good on the finals.” From that statement, you can see that I am a better tea advocate than English teacher! Twelve kids drank tea (two quick steepings). Kids love tea; which has to do with choice and health, I suspect. Kids are very aware of health but easily swayed by advertising – they were shocked when I insisted they compare “Vitamin Water” to Pepsi Cola. If something like an authority (an Olympic snowboarder will do) says it is good for you . . . it is! Please watch for an upcoming post for teens’ comments on fresh, hot, whole leaf tea in the classroom. I would love to know where you are, Team, because every group of kids in our school, from the science nerd to the wrestler to the skater to the district champion debater to the bilingual first-in-family-to-receive-a-high-school-diploma . . . LOVES tea. So far, Nepalese Oolong; Matcha Genmaicha; Golden Lion’s Paw; and Jasmine Pearls are absolute winners. Tea tastes good, that’s why teens like it, and if they learn that it’s healthy, Bonus Time!
American teens, however, if forced to choose between good tea and a tank of gas . . .
There is a company up in the Pacific Northwest that teenagers Yelp about (the site for consumer reviews of co’s) called Remedy Teas. Another is Miro Tea. Koots Green Tea closed their doors (I suspect maybe the emphasis on Green was too unfamiliar). The Pacific Northwest seems to be a hotbed of entrepreneurism in the beverage area!
Also, I would be interested in following up with you on this type of information. We are about to open our second store, this one without 50/50 partners, and would love to see what some kind of cross-networking/marketing might do at some point….after we ‘rest’ from getting to work rather than the process of getting it up and running. Wow..thank goodness we’ve been drinking tea every day! :)
Eric
Thought this might interest you as it speaks to your question.
Here’s what About.com has to say on the same subject:
In a study reported on in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that green tea extract resulted in a significant increase in energy expenditure (a measure of metabolism), plus also had a significant effect on fat oxidation. While some of the effects were originally theorized to be due to the caffeine content of green tea, the researchers discovered that the tea actually has properties that go beyond those that would be explained by the caffeine. The same amount of caffeine as was in the green tea, administered alone, failed to change energy expenditure in other studies. This led reseachers to believe that there is some interaction going on with the active ingredients of green tea that promotes increased metabolism and fat oxidation.