Educational Media Reviews Online

The young adult hosts of this program profess in the introduction to this film that it will answer the following questions, “What happens when you overdose on salt and sugar, and what can you do about it?” Human Relations Media scores high marks for living up to that claim in a big way—and doing it in 20 minutes. The Dangers of Sugar and Salt describes the physiology of human salt and sugar consumption, the impact it has on everyday life, how we live in a society that is overdosing on both substances creating a major public health problem, and how we can reduce both salt and sugar in our daily diet.

While the consumption of sugar and salt over is the main focus of the film, it also explains why we need both substances to survive. It stresses the difference between added sugar and salt in our food, as opposed to obtaining those substances naturally—an important concept to keep in mind when reading food labels to determine how much we should be eating. It makes the connection between overconsumption and the epidemic of chronic diseases in our society such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and some cancers. This reviewer was slightly confused at the end of the program when it states that the recommended daily salt consumption should be in the 1500-2300 mgs range, when 150 mgs per day is mentioned at the beginning of the section on salt. Additionally, no recommendation is provided for the total grams of sugar we should consume per day. Despite this, The Dangers of Sugar and Salt is highly recommended as an introduction to the topic for its intended teen/young adult audience.

This program will enhance library collections in school media centers, public libraries, and even academic libraries that support nutrition and education programs. Production values are high, and as with other Human Relations Media DVDs, it contains a Teacher’s Resource Book for classroom programming. The chaptering on the disc is perfect for separate work on either sugar or salt, and if watched as a single film, the 20 minute length is designed to fit in a typical classroom time frame. While aimed at a teenage audience, The Dangers of Sugar and Salt will be even more effective if parents watch it with their teenagers.