Primary School Kids 'Eat Own Weight in Sugar'
Parents
are being urged to get to grips with how much sugar their kids are
eating and drinking as new figures show that young children are
consuming the equivalent of 5,543 sugar cubes each year.
A new 'Sugar Smart' app is being launched to help parents check how much sugar is contained in everyday food and drinks.
Health Problems
To coincide with the campaign, Change4Life is releasing a short film to warn about how too much sugar can damage health, including weight problems, tooth decay and the increased risk of diabetes and heart disease in later life.
The cartoon, called Sugar Boy, graphically shows a primary
school child made up entirely of 4g sugar cubes to underline the
statistic that kids aged 4 to 10 consume around 22 kg (48.5 lbs) of
sugar each year - the weight of an average 5-year-old.
Dr
Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist for Public Health England, says in a
statement: "Children are having too much sugar - three times the
maximum recommended amount. This can lead to painful tooth decay, weight
gain and obesity, which can also affect children's wellbeing as they
are more likely to be bullied, have low self-esteem and miss school.
"Children aged 5 shouldn't have more than 19 gs of sugar per day - that's five cubes - but it's very easy to have more."
'A Tricky Challenge': Jamelia
Singer and TV presenter Jamelia is backing the campaign and starring in further Sugar Smart films. She says: "One of the trickiest challenges as a mum is trying to avoid sugar sneaking into my children's diets. Supporting this new Change4Life campaign has opened my eyes to how much sugar is in the everyday food and drink we eat and drink.
"It's so important to take control of the amount of sugar our kids are eating and act now."
The new Sugar Smart app, available to download for free on Apple and Android phones, works by scanning the barcode of food and drink products to reveal the amount of sugar it contains in cubes and grams.
The campaign reveals the sugar content of everyday food and drink. For instance:
Eating and drinking any one of these 3 items would take a child over their recommended maximum sugar intake for one day.
The
campaign and the phone app have the backing of supermarkets Tesco,
Aldi, Morrison's, The Co-operative Food and Asda, and food manufacturers
Weetabix, New York Bagels and Flora.
A new 'Sugar Smart' app is being launched to help parents check how much sugar is contained in everyday food and drinks.
Health Problems
To coincide with the campaign, Change4Life is releasing a short film to warn about how too much sugar can damage health, including weight problems, tooth decay and the increased risk of diabetes and heart disease in later life.
Sugar Boy. Source: YouTube
"Children aged 5 shouldn't have more than 19 gs of sugar per day - that's five cubes - but it's very easy to have more."
'A Tricky Challenge': Jamelia
Singer and TV presenter Jamelia is backing the campaign and starring in further Sugar Smart films. She says: "One of the trickiest challenges as a mum is trying to avoid sugar sneaking into my children's diets. Supporting this new Change4Life campaign has opened my eyes to how much sugar is in the everyday food and drink we eat and drink.
The new Sugar Smart app, available to download for free on Apple and Android phones, works by scanning the barcode of food and drink products to reveal the amount of sugar it contains in cubes and grams.
The campaign reveals the sugar content of everyday food and drink. For instance:
- A chocolate bar contains the equivalent of 6 cubes of sugar (4g each)
- A small carton or pouch of juice drink contains over 5 cubes
- There are 9 sugar cubes in a can of cola.
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