Health Experts Call for Further Reductions in Sugar Consumption
Health experts have called for further reductions in daily sugar consumption in a bid to reduce rates of tooth decay.
Experts say that the previous recommended reduction, which was decreased from 10 per cent of energy intake to 5 per cent, should be lowered again. According to a new study, which has been published in BMC Health Journal, sugar consumption should form no more than 3 per cent of daily calorie intake.
Researchers who took part in the study claim that reductions are required to reduce rates of decay, as many cases are now linked to diet, and decay is a preventable disease. The research team found that increasing sugar consumption from almost 0% to 5 per cent doubles the risk of tooth decay in children and therefore health experts and organisations should be promoting a lower intake.
Researchers claimed that treatment for dental decay accounts for between 5 and 10 per cent of health spending in developed industrial countries. Co-author of the study, Professor Philip James, former president of the World Obesity Federation and an expert in diet and nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that stringent measures were needed to cut sugar intake to reduce the risk of preventable health problems, which are costing the NHS millions of pounds every year.
Professor James has backed the introduction of a sugar tax and called for vending machines, which contain sweets, chocolate bars and fizzy drinks, to be banned from public places, such as schools and hospitals.
Statistics from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2008-2012 show that many people are consuming more than 10 per sugar of their energy intake from sugar. Rates are particularly high among teenagers, with a daily intake of 15.6 per cent.
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