Families in Lancashire are being encouraged to make sugar swaps this summer as it’s announced one-fifth of 10 to 11 year olds are obese and almost two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese with sugar being a major cause of this.
Health professionals at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust are urging parents to cut sugary drinks from their child’s diet and reduce their daily sugar intake. Recent figures show that sugary drinks are the highest contributor of sugars to the diets of 4 to 10 year olds with 30% coming from soft drinks and fruit juices. The Trust is encouraging families to make a combined effort, whilst setting a good example, to make small changes into their diets such as swapping sugary cereals for wholegrain options and switching sugary drinks after school for a glass of chilled skimmed or semi skimmed milk.
Joanne Smith, Health Improvement Specialist at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust said:
‘‘It is becoming more and more important for parents to make these changes to their children’s diets in light of these statistics. As well as weight gain related diseases, tooth decay is a serious problem with 28% of children suffering from tooth decay by the time they reach 5 years of age. There are lots of great sugar swap ideas on the ‘change4life website’, along with ways to get in touch to learn more.’’
A high sugar diet can lead to weight gain which can then increase your risk of cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Obesity costs the NHS more than £5 billion every year and treating type 2 diabetes costs the NHS £8.8 billion a year, almost 9% of its budget.