A national diet survey has found that the average child’s sugar intake is double the recommended level, while teenagers are consuming three times as much sugar as they should be having.
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey has collected diet data across the UK for the last six years, funded by the UK Food Standards Agency and Public Health England (PHE). These latest findings are the result of a survey of 1,258 children and 1,288 adults who kept a three or four-day food diary between 2012 and 2014.
It found that for children between the ages of four and 10 years, 13 per cent of their daily calorie intake came in the form of sugar, while for teenagers it was 15 per cent. These values are quite significantly higher than the recommended 5 per cent limit.
As well as finding that children and teenagers have too much sugar each day, adults were also found to have a high sugar consumption. On average, 12 per cent of an adult’s calorie intake came in the form of sugar.
Meanwhile, only 8 per cent of teenagers eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, with the average teenager having just 2.8 portions each day. It is recommended that people have five portions each day, and the average adult only has four.
Worryingly, one in three children is overweight or obese when they leave primary school. This puts them at an increased risk of developing health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer later in life.
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE, said: “While it is encouraging that young children are having fewer sugary drinks, they still have far too much sugar in their diet overall, along with teenagers and adults.
“To help tackle this, PHE is launching a programme to challenge the food industry to remove at least 20% of the sugar in its products by 2020. It’s an ambitious programme, a world first, and will be a significant step on the road to reducing child obesity levels.”
