Call for obesity action as figures reveal ‘extreme’ sugar consumption of young people in the UK
Teenagers drink the equivalent of a bathtub full of sugary drinks every year, according to Cancer Research UK.
Across the UK, young people aged 11-18 were found to drink an average of 234 cans of soft drink every year – a total of almost 80 litres.
Children aged between four and 10, meanwhile, consumed around 110 cans in the same period, roughly one every three days.
The figures were calculated from National Diet and Nutrition Survey data, which revealed adults and young children annually consume twice the maximum recommended amount of added sugar.
Unless action is taken, society and our health services will drown under the heavy weight of this UK epidemic
Statistics also showed 11 to 18 year olds eat and drink three times the recommended limit, with drinks being their main source of added sugar.
Cancer Research UK said the “extreme” sugar consumption of young people in the UK was a major contributor to the wider child obesity crisis.
Obese children are around five times more likely to grow into obese adults, increasing the risk of cancer, Type 2 diabetes and other serious health conditions.
The charity is now calling on the Scottish Government’s health and sport committee to do more to tackle Scotland’s obesity challenge.
Professor Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK’s cancer prevention expert, said: “It’s shocking that teenagers are drinking the equivalent of a bathtub of sugary drinks a year.
“Scotland is already sucking up the high cost of obesity and, unless action is taken, society and our health services will drown under the heavy weight of this UK epidemic.
“We know that Scots have a bigger thirst for fizzy drinks with households spending over a quarter more than other UK nations on soft drinks. And the nation has one of the heaviest populations in Europe with two in three adults in Scotland overweight or obese.
“The Scottish Government must do much more to give the next generation a better chance by protecting children from being bombarded by junk food marketing on TV, as well as the barrage of supermarket multi-buy offers on sugar laden food and drinks.”
