Teens 'drink enough sugar for cola bath'

[davieG]

UK teenagers drink enough sugar every year to fill a bathtub with fizzy cola, a Cancer Research UK study suggests.

The charity looked at data from the 2015 national diet survey and found children of all ages were consuming too much sugar in drinks, although there had been an improvement on 2014.

Drinks are teenagers' main source of added sugar, and too much can lead to obesity and health problems.

In March, the government promised a tax on sugary drinks in England.

A five-year-old should have no more than 19g of sugar in a day, a 10-year-old no more than 24g, and teenagers and adults no more than 30g.

A typical can of cola contains 35g (nine teaspoons).

The survey data suggests:

Pre-school children drink the equivalent of nearly 70 cans of fizzy cola

Children aged four to 10 drink the equivalent of 110 cans a year (nearly half a bathtub)

Teenagers drink more than the equivalent of 234 cans each a year (a bathtub)

When the sugar tax comes in, soft drinks companies will pay a charge for drinks with added sugar and a total sugar content of 5g or more per 100ml (about 5%).

But drinks with a high milk content will be exempt because milk contains calcium and other nutrients the government says are "vital for a healthy diet".

Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: "The sugar levy is a good way to help cut intakes, but children get sugar from many sources.

"We're also working with businesses and retailers to gradually take sugar out of the food children eat the most, so we can cut sugar intakes across the whole diet, not just drinks."

The British Soft Drinks Association said: "Teenagers' sugar intake from soft drinks is down by 8%.

"This is not surprising since soft drinks companies' action on reformulation and smaller pack sizes has helped drive a 17% cut in sugar consumed from soft drinks since 2012."

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[davieG]

Why do supposedly healthy foods like cereals have chocolate coatings?

 

I don't get it.

[foxy boxing]

so what exactly happened to the SUGAR TAX! the thing is sugary and junk food are just so much cheaper than healthy food and are more accessible to young people

[tom27111]

6 minutes ago, foxy boxing said:

so what exactly happened to the SUGAR TAX! the thing is sugary and junk food are just so much cheaper than healthy food and are more accessible to young people

 

It's due to start in 2018

[Ric Flair]

I've had a bath in tins of warm Skol before, it was very relaxing.

[Wymsey]

I sometimes consume more sugar in the morning (on my Weetabix and in coffee) as it gives me much needed energy to wake up me up.

 

Authorities say sugar is bad at any health cost but it's beneficial if you keep it in moderation and balanice it with other healthier nutrients, and not rely on it throughout the day whilst having small snacks and in your meals and drinks.

[Jon the Hat]

Jesus talk about confusing your audience with stupid comparisons.  Are we talking cans, bath tubs or grams for ****s sake.  I am lost.

[Jon the Hat]

I might be going nuts here, but I think their study shows everyone is well within the grams per day limit on fizzy drinks at least.

 

	per day g	Per Yr G	In Cans	Per study	% of annual limit
5 yr old	19	6,935	198	70	35.3%
10 yr old	24	8,760	250	110	43.9%
teens & Adults	30	10,950	313	234	74.8%

[ScouseFox]

think I drink more than a bath of coke a week let alone a year 

[Unabomber]

people should only drink water coffee beer and wine everything else is unnecessary 

[Dr The Singh]

I tend to snort coke then drink it

[ScouseFox]

13 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

people should only drink water coffee beer and wine everything else is unnecessary 

hi mate what about Fanta limon or vimto

[Unabomber]

Oh yeah they are ok and all lucozades 

[MPH]

The Sugar tax. How much will it be? like 10p a can of coke?

 

 

That will stop the Pesky kids..

[MC Prussian]

1 hour ago, MPH said:

The Sugar tax. How much will it be? like 10p a can of coke?

 

 

That will stop the Pesky kids..

Expect the creation of a shadow industry, just dealing with sugar and syringes...

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, MPH said:

The Sugar tax. How much will it be? like 10p a can of coke?

 

 

That will stop the Pepsi kids..

Fixed     

[AyewJoking]

dont most fizzy drinks have a "zero" version now anyway or are they just as bad?

[Carl the Llama]

A bathtub in an entire year sounds entirely non-problematic.

[Strokes]

Tbf a bathtub is about 180 litres, so that's roughly one 500ml bottle a day. Not exactly diabetes territory.

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Royston. said:

dont most fizzy drinks have a "zero" version now anyway or are they just as bad?

Sugar or chemicals it's  your choice.

 

You may as well choose the chemical option because that's  pretty much what the whole thing is anyway  along with water.