International Quit Soda Day ... October 20th

Welcome to the 2nd Annual International Quit Soda Day,  10/20/2018.

Inaugural International Quit Soda Day mural by Mike Rich of Portland, Maine, 2017

International Quit Soda Day, IQSD, is a day to focus our collective energy on decreasing worldwide consumption of soda and sugary drinks.  If we reduce consumption of sugary drinks, we will reverse the escalating rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay that afflict our communities.  

We can harness our collective energy to:

1) Challenge friends, family, and neighbors to give up soda and sugary drinks on this global quit date.

2) Challenge hospital administrators, school officials, and community leaders to phase out sugary drinks at their respective institutions.  You can find a downloadable sample letter reaching out to administrators in our digital toolkit.  

3) Challenge local, state, federal, and global health policy leaders to make clear and strong public announcements about the connection between sugary drinks and increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay.   Click HERE to view/share a sample letter to the newly appointed Director of the CDC, Dr. Robert Redfield. 

4) Build relationships with public health advocates across local, regional, national, and global platforms.

Dr. Kevin Strong at the NCDFREE bootcamp at Harvard Medical School with Anne Kiser, Founding member of Global Health Disrupted, who we have partnered with to bring the DEFEAT SODATRON message to youth in Africa.  Click HERE to read more about our work in Africa.  

5) Protect youth by educating them on the truth about soda and sugary drinks so they can make an informed decision to choose health over a path to chronic disease. 

Dr. Kevin Strong with Operation: #DEFEATSODATRON in collaboration with NYC Health Department.  Pictured here with Dr. Aletha Maybank, Deputy Commissioner, NYC Dept of Health and Mental Hygiene and Founding Director of the Center for Health Equity with students at PS 13 and Dunk the Junk rappers, Jay Caron and Mike Be.    

6) Think SODA TAX.  It is working in Mexico.  Click HERE to read on the Mexico soda tax.

7) Celebrate health as an unalienable human rite.  Commit to increasing our efforts to protect low income communities and developing nations from preventable chronic diseases.  

Global Health Disrupted, in collaboration with Operation: DEFEAT SODATRON,  asks Kenyan school children... "Who is ready to QUIT SODA?"  

In the spirit of this celebration, we invite you to download, share, and reproduce our posters, coloring pages, and music to promote health in your community.  Click HERE to explore the Operation: #DEFEATSODATRON digital toolkit.

Join us on Instagram @dunkthejunk , on twitter @dunkthejunkfood , and on hashtags #InternationalQuitSodaDay  #IQSD  #DEFEATSODATRON  to connect and AMPLIFY.

Operation: #DEFEATSODATRON in Miami at Solbox Fitness with street art mural by @MikeRichDesign @vyalone @Keo_xmen 

In our journey towards health equity, social justice, and universal health; we wish you peace, love, and strength.

Operation: #DEFEATSODATRON working with children in the after school program, ASES, in Cathedral City, California.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Kevin Strong and the Dunk the Junk crew

OPEN LETTER to the newly appointed CDC Director

Dear Dr. Robert Redfield,

Congratulations on your appointment this year to be Director of the Center for Disease Control.  All Americans trust in, and benefit from, public servants who are dedicated to building systems and practices that keep us all healthy and safe.  

In that spirit we are writing to invite you to join us in celebrating the Second Annual International Quit Soda Day on October 20, 2018.

As you know, and as the CDC website notes, "frequently drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with weight gain/obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, non-alcoholic liver disease, tooth decay and cavities, and gout."  As you are also aware, Georgia has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in the United States.  Since Atlanta is home to both the CDC, which is charged with protecting us from these diseases, and Coca-Cola, which is the largest manufacturer of one of the leading contributors to these diseases, you can understand why we feel your vocal support for this event is crucial.

We see this issue as not only one of health, but also one of justice and equality.  Tobacco companies have a shameful history of targeting minority communities in our country and funding lung cancer "research" favorable to their poisonous product.  We have been alarmed and saddened to see Coca-Cola undertake similar strategies, such as Coke's internally circulated "Vision 2020" plan, which laid out quite blatantly the company's plan to target minority communities.  We hope you will join us in the fight to make sure soda companies are not allowed to actively poison our African American and Hispanic youth.  

[[For reference, "Vision 2020 is Coke's plan to double its business by 2020... This aggressive plan is focused on dramatically increasing consumption of sugary beverages by young people using precision marketing that targets young people, mostly in Latino and African-American communities in the United States, and in developing countries abroad..."  -Joe Tripodi, Chief Marketing Officer for the Coca-Cola Company in 2014.]]

Please let us know if you can join us in support of the Second Annual International Quit Soda Day on October 20, 2018.  You might participate via live video feed or by submitting a pre-recorded message in support of this important public health event.

Our nonprofit will be celebrating this event at public schools, hospitals, and community centers throughout the United States.  We are eager to include your message in our efforts to empower youth with the truth about soda and sugary drinks so they can choose health over a path to chronic disease.  

Sincerely,

Kevin Strong, MD

Pediatrician

Advocate for Health Equity and Social Justice

Founder of the nonprofit, Dunk the Junk