Guntakal Herkind Lions Club takes sugar awareness into 60 schools and 30 hospitals
Walk into almost any school canteen or hospital waiting area in India and the scene is familiar: children reaching for a chilled soft drink, patients sipping packaged juice between appointments, snack wrappers piled at the edges of a lunch break. The sugar content in these choices goes largely unexamined — not out of indifference, but because the information was never made visible.
Guntakal Herkind Lions Club, District 316J, decided to change that. During Lions Year 2025-26, the club installed Sugar Awareness Boards across 60 schools and 30 hospitals in Guntakal town and its surrounding areas — placing the facts about hidden sugar directly in the spaces where food choices are made.
The boards do not lecture. They inform. Each display illustrates the sugar content in popular soft drinks, packaged foods, and snacks, compares it with World Health Organization recommendations for children, and explains the health risks of excessive sugar consumption. Commonly overlooked food additives — including artificial colours, preservatives, and flavour enhancers — are also highlighted. Alongside the warnings are practical alternatives that families can easily adopt: fresh fruit, milk, buttermilk, coconut water, millets, pulses, and other nutritious everyday foods.
The reach was considerable. Students, parents, teachers, and healthcare professionals across 90 institutions engaged with the displays. Schools and hospitals responded positively, with many requesting continued involvement from the club.
The project was developed under the guidance of District Governor Elluru Gopala Krishna PMJF, with Club President Chakka Padmaja leading the initiative.
The boards remain in place. Every student who pauses to read one, every parent who rethinks a purchase at the checkout — that is the project continuing to work.