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Monday 4 January 2016

Children aged five eating own weight in sugar each year

Children aged five eating own weight in sugar each year



The average five-year-old consumes the equivalent of their body weight in sugar in the course of a year, health officials have warned.
Parents are being urged to take control of their children’s habits, as the Government prepares to publish its strategy on child obesity, amid calls to introduce a tax on sugary drinks and foods.
The new campaign by Public Health England (PHE) warns that five-year-olds should only be consuming the equivalent of five sugar cubes a day.
On average, child are having three times their recommended maximum daily intake, which rises to six cubes for six to ten-year-olds, and seven cubes for anyone of the age of 11.

Over the course of a year, a child aged between four and 10 will consume around 5,500 sugar cubes – or three and half stone - the average weight of five year old, PHE said.
Officials have launched a new free app, which reveals how much sugar is in everyday food and drink in a bid to encourage parents to take control of their families’ sugar consumption.
It works by scanning the barcode of products and showing the total sugar in each product in cubes and grams.
Tooth decay has become the most common reason that five-to-nine year olds are admitted to hospital, with a 14 per cent increase in admissions in three years.

Read more -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/12069267/Children-aged-five-eating-own-weight-in-sugar-every-year.html

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