the British Dental Association tooth decay is the leading cause of hospital admissions among young children.
Clearly, Scotland has a problem with sugar.
Added sugar is ubiquitous in fizzy drinks and processed foods. Our national soſt drink, Irn Bru, contains nearly nine teaspoons of sugar in each standard 330ml can. But even a common breakfast cereal like cornflakes is just as sugary.
Such energy-dense foods are more affordable than healthier diets based on lean meat, fish, and fresh fruit and vegetables. This is driving the epidemic of obesity in Scotland.
Obesity reduces quality of life and increases the risk of chronic ill-health in the form of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cardio-vascular disease. According to official health figures It results in the premature death of about 7,000 people a year in Scotland and places an enormous strain on health services. The financial implications are enormous with the cost to the NHS in Scotland estimated to reach £3 billion by 2030.
Between 1995 and 2012 the proportion of adults aged between 16 and 64 in Scotland who were obese rose from 17.2 per cent to 26.1 per cent, a relative increase of 52 per cent. At the same time the percentage of this age group who were either overweight or obese
rose from 52.4 per cent to 61.9 per cent. And by 2012 it was estimated that over 30 per cent of Scotish children were at risk of being obese or overweight.
Over the same time frame consumption of added sugar rose by nearly a third.
According to Simon Capewell, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, who has carried out studies into sugar addiction, cravings for the sweet stuff is almost as bad as smoking.
“Sugar is the new tobacco. Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health,” he claims.
Sugar is a drug. It has litle nutritional value but it is addictive. It stimulates the release of the “feel good” hormone serotonin. It gives users a “rush”.
Tests on animals carried out by Dr Serge Ahmed of the University of Bordeaux in France found that laboratory rats became more easily addicted to sugar than cocaine.
Over the years many manufacturers have added sugar into beverages, processed food and restaurant fare to increase its atractiveness to consumers and it is, quite literally, killing us.
“Sugar is the new tobacco. Everywhere, sugary drinks and junk foods are now pressed on unsuspecting parents and children by a cynical industry focused on profit not health,” he claims.
So, is it time to treat sugar like other harmful drugs such as nicotine and tobacco and tax it to break the “cycle of obesity”?
The British Medical Association (BMA) certainly thinks so. In July they produced a report which called on the Government to impose a 20 per cent “sugar tax” on sugary drinks.
Dr Sally Winning, Deputy Chair of BMA Scotland, said: “Doctors are increasingly concerned about the impact of poor diet on patients’ health, which is not only a significant cause of ill health and premature death, but a considerable strain on NHS resources.
September 2015
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