National media seriously misreported sugar intake
Consumers’ sugar intake and its link to obesity have been seriously misreported in the national media, the British Nutrition Foundation’s director general claimed.
Judy Buttriss told a Leatherhead Food Research nutrition forum on March 6 that UK sugar intake was falling, contrary to impressions given by the press.
What’s not actually being recognised in all of the UK’s [press] coverage is that sugar intake is coming down,” she said. “The biggest reduction [in sugar intake] is in toddlers.”
Toddlers’ intake had declined significantly and there had been a big drop in consumption by young children, according to the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey, said Buttriss.
Intake was more of an issue among older children and older adults, but there had still been some progress there, she added.
Alison Lennox, professor of public health nutrition at the University of Surrey revealed toddlers’ sugar intake had reduced from 17% of total energy intake in 1992 to less than 12% in 2010.
They were speaking following the World Health Organisation’s latest intake update in early March.