Health Report Is your no-sugar drink really the healthier option?
Aug 8, 2025
Associate Professor Michelle Lim, a clinical psychologist and CEO of Ending Loneliness Together, discusses the alarming rise of youth loneliness and its profound health impacts. She shares insights on how loneliness differs from isolation and stresses community solutions to address this issue. Joining her is Professor Barbara DeCorten from RMIT University, who reveals startling findings about the health risks of no-sugar drinks, suggesting they may pose similar dangers to type 2 diabetes as their sugary counterparts. This conversation challenges common perceptions about healthy beverage choices.
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Loneliness Is Widespread Among Young Australians
- 43% of Australians aged 15–25 report feeling lonely and one in seven experience persistent loneliness for two years or more.
- Persistent loneliness raises psychological distress and early cardiometabolic and cognitive risk markers in young people.
Loneliness Is A Quality Problem With Physiological Effects
- Loneliness is a distress from unmet social needs and mostly reflects quality, not simply quantity, of social connections.
- It causes hypervigilance to social threat, chronic stress, and worsened sleep, activity and self-care behaviors.
Build Community Connections To Reduce Loneliness
- Strengthen social ties via physical activity, family and community participation to reduce loneliness and its health harms.
- Normalise conversations about loneliness and invest in community structures rather than blaming individuals.