Sugar tax... at long sweet last...

Sugar has been BIG NEWS of late.  There has been so much talk about the dangers of sugar and how it is being called the new tobacco, etc... And what's more, it's true.

Sugar is really bad for you, in fact I have written several posts on the subject the first of which was back in 2012; Dare I say sugar and heroin in the same sentence?

However, sugar is such a part of our lives that we don't even realize it.  It was so "cool" to drink Coke like in the movies (way back when), and now sugary drinks are a part of most peoples' everyday life.  Hidden sugar is in the most unsuspecting foods, making it difficult for people to calculate just how much sugar they ingest daily.

And then there is the non-stop marketing of processed foods and drinks which are packed full of sugar - even the supposedly "healthy" ones such as non-fat foods or granola bars... take out the fat and you need to replace the lost flavor with something, which is usually sugar and/or salt.

The one thing food manufacturers look for is what is known in the industry as the "bliss point"; that is the perfect mix of sugar, salt and fat that makes you - the consumer, wanting to eat more and more of your favorite processed foods.

Obesity is a huge problem (no pun intended), both adult and, more worryingly infant obesity are on the rise.  If being fat was just a question of appearance then... well, hey - that's up to you.  But being overweight or obese means a whole host of HEALTH problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, double risk of Alzheimer's, and several cancers...

All very serious diseases.

There are now lots of people campaigning against sugar, Dr. Aseem Malhotra and celebrity chef
Jaime Oliver are the first 2 to spring to mind.  Last week the anti sugar campaigners have won a small victory.  Now, I say small as we are yet to see the outcome of the new SUGAR TAX to be implemented in the United Kingdom.

Yes, the chancellor announced in his annual budget that a new sugar tax will be applied to the soft drinks industry in the UK.

The new tax is aimed directly at high-sugar drinks, in particular carbonated drinks.  However, this does not include fruit juices and milk-based drinks.

The tax will be imposed on drinks companies according to the volume of sugary drinks that they produce or import.  There will also be two levels; one for total sugar content above 5g per 100 milliliters, and another higher tax for drinks with more than 8g or sugar per 100 milliliters.  This could be about 18p and 24p per liter.

So, the products with the highest rate of the sugar tax will be Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Lucozade and Irn-Bru with the lower rate being applied to Dr Pepper, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes Indian Tonic water and alcohol-free shandy.

For the moment, the sugar tax is on soft drinks and not all sweets such as chocolates and cakes as soft drinks are not seen in the same light as say a cake.  A cake can be thought of as a special treat whereas soft drinks are just a part of everyday life.  For example, as far as teenagers are concerned, soft drinks are their number one source of sugar intake and younger children get a third of their daily sugar intake from them.

This sugar tax is a direct attack on childhood obesity and, in my opinion, something that should be implemented in all countries.  The British Chancellor expects to gain 520 million Great British Pounds per year from this tax which he says will be spent on increasing the funding for sport in primary schools.

Teaching our children healthy habits from an early age is fundamental for all aspects of life.  There is a primary school in Scotland called St. Ninians which has it's pupils running a mile a day during school time.  They have noticed that the children are better behaved, settle into lessons quicker and there are no obese children in the school.  This initiative is being implanted in other schools and a study is being designed to analyze the results.

Here in Spain, my son who is in his second year of primary school, only has 2 lesson a week of physical education - too little as far as I am concerned.

So... what's the rest of the Western World going to do about it?

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com