It has been revealed that British children aged between four and 10 are consuming about 22kg of sugar a year. We do not have this kind of data locally but the National Food Consumption Survey currently under way should provide this information once completed.
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Children aged between four and 10 in the UK consume around 22kg of sugar every year, or the average weight of a five-year-old, according to Public Health England.
These findings raised alarms and the British government responded by launching a new campaign titled Change4Life.
This was accompanied by a free phone app that allows users to scan the barcode of products and learn how much sugar they contain in grams or cubes.
Locally, there is no such data but the National Food Consumption Survey, currently under way, will provide local authorities with this information for people aged seven years upwards once it is completed. The pilot phase has been finalised and the full survey field work commenced in October.
“This will take a year of regular interviews per month to ensure capture of seasonality,” explains Charmaine Gauci, director of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate.
The problem of obesity among Maltese children has been outlined in various recent studies and the directorate has ongoing initiatives to increase awareness on healthy eating which includes limitation of foods high in sugar, salt, saturated and trans fats.
However, old habits die hard and misconceptions persist.
“One may wrongly believe that brown sugar is healthier than white, that sugar-added fruit juices are healthy or that sugar is needed for children, so they need to eat some sweets,” says Dr Gauci.
One may wrongly believe that brown sugar is healthier than white, that sugar-added fruit juices are healthy or that sugar is needed for children
“Other common mistakes parents do as regards eating habits are: forcing children to eat everything on the plate; offering sweet rewards; offering too many snacks; allowing children to drink sugar-sweetened beverages frequently (juices, soft drinks); setting a bad example; giving up on new food too fast; serving big portion sizes; and missing out on breakfast.”
Dr Gauci says it is very important to read labels and choose products which are low in sugar. Equally important is to consider cooking methods and ensure portion sizes are adequate.
According to a study published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal two weeks ago, cutting the amount of sugar in sweetened drinks by 40 per cent could prevent 300,000 cases of diabetes and one million cases of obesity.
But besides these diseases, too much sugar intake can lead to tooth decay, which is also a growing problem locally.
Recent research by the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the University of Malta revealed that one-third of three-year-olds show signs of decay.
Fifty per cent of this age group consumes soft drinks and 27 per cent of them do so on a daily basis.
Currently, the faculty is collecting fresh epidemiological data relating to the Maltese population as part of the National Oral Health Survey through the University of Malta research grants and in collaboration with the Dental Health Unit of the Superintendence of Public Health.
Other countries’ efforts to cut down on sugar
Food and drinks industry in the UK warned to cut sugar or face tax
The food and drinks industry is “on notice” that a sugar tax will be brought in unless it curbs the amount of sugar in people’s diets, England’s Chief Medical Officer has said.
Sally Davies said there was “no silver bullet” for tackling Britain’s obesity crisis, but reformulating products with less sugar as well as resizing foods would have an impact. She said: “There is no silver bullet for obesity, this is complex. While a sugar tax is totemic, it’s not going to have the biggest impact. Reformulation, resizing, preventing promotions and preventing advertising would be key.”
A recent study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) showed that a sugary drinks tax in Mexico has led to a 12 per cent reduction in sales and a four per cent increase in the purchase of untaxed drinks in the first year.
Cancer Research UK has also called for a tax on sugary drinks for the first time in a bid to curb rising rates of cancer caused by people being overweight.
David Cameron, who has previously been against a sugar tax, said it would not be ruled out but he was hoping to “avoid” it. A new anti-obesity strategy is due to be published by the UK government.
Asked if he was ready to reverse his previous opposition to the policy, the Prime Minister said: “Of course, it would be far better if we could make progress on all these issues without having to resort to taxes. That would be my intention. But what matters is that we do make progress. We need to look at this in the same way in the past we have looked at the dangers of smoking to health and other health-related issues.” (PA)
New US diet rules
If the US government has its way, Americans would cut their consumption of sugar and corn syrup by more than two million tons a year, the latest blow for a sweetener industry facing an onslaught of criticism over negative health effects.
The US government recently issued new dietary guidelines that suggested for the first time that consumers limit their consumption of added sweeteners at a specific level, less than 10 per cent of a recommended daily intake of about 2,000 calories. Currently the average American consumes about 270 calories a day in the form of sweeteners, equal to about 13 per cent, the guidelines said.
With one teaspoon of sugar equal to approximately 15 calories, a reduction equivalent to more than 60 calories worth of added sugars – over 20 per cent fewer than the average American consumes today – would amount to some 2.2 million tons of primarily sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.
That figure may be conservative. The USDA estimates total national sweetener demand by food and beverage manufacturers at around 19 million tons. On that basis, a reduction of a roughly 20 per cent drop in sugar calories consumed could amount to 3.7 million tons – small relative to worldwide use of over 186 million tons, but still more than enough to meet the entire needs of Egypt.
Many people including health advocates point out that few Americans are expected to follow the new guidelines. But even the suggestion of such a significant decline is bad news for an industry engulfed in a “war on sugar” as health advocates blame sweeteners for a national obesity crisis. And a deeper decline in demand from the one of the world’s top five users could weigh on global sugar prices that have fallen by half in five years. (Reuters)