Musings From Abroad

Study reveals thousands of UK children in grave danger

Uncontrolled consumption of sugar has put thousands of UK children at health risk, a recent survey reveals

Published

6 years ago

June 18, 2018

Uncontrolled consumption of sugar has put thousands of UK children at health risk, a recent survey reveals.

The study shows that children in UK have consumed more than a year’s worth of sugar in less than six months, public health figures showed.

While four-to-ten-year-olds should not have more than the equivalent of five to six sugar cubes per day, they are consuming 13 on average, according to data from the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey.

This means children will have around 4,760 cubes of sugar by the end of the year — more than double the maximum recommendation.

Too much sugar is blamed for high obesity rates in children and dental decay.

The British Department for Health agency is urging parents to try to cut back on sugary drinks, cakes and biscuits.

“We’re barely halfway through the year and already children have consumed far more sugar than is healthy — it’s no surprise this is contributing to an obesity crisis,” said Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE.

“Snacks and drinks are adding unnecessary sugar to children’s diets without us even noticing,” Tedstone said.
“Swapping to lower- or no-added-sugar alternatives is something all parents can work towards.”

In spite of the publicity around the sugar levy, which began in April, sugary drinks such as colas, lemonades and juices are still one of the biggest sources of sugar in children’s diets.

They account for 10 per cent of sugar consumed by children, as do buns, cakes, pastries and fruit pies.

Biscuits are almost as big a problem, making up nine per cent of children’s intake, with spreads, jams and table sugar also contributing nine per cent.

Other big sources of sugar include breakfast cereals (eight per cent), chocolate confectionery (seven per cent), and yoghurts, fromage frais and other dairy desserts (six per cent).

Fruit juice and smoothies can count as one of the five fruits and vegetables everybody is encouraged to eat per day, but they contain a lot of natural sugar.

PHE said that one serving a day of no more than 150 ml is enough, which should be drunk with a meal not as a snack.

PHE suggests parents should swap their children’s sugary drinks for water, lower fat plain milks, sugar-free or no-added-sugar drinks.

It also offered ideas on its Change4Life website. It said that lower sugar snacks include fruit, plain rice cakes, toast, fruit teacakes, malted loaf or bagels with lower-fat spread.

The Obesity Health Alliance said PHE’s figures were alarming.

“These startling figures highlight the need for further robust action from government in their upcoming second edition of the Childhood Obesity Plan.

“A package of measures including restrictions on the advertising of junk food to children, action on price promotions on unhealthy products and clearer food labelling will help parents to make healthy choices and ensure their children have the healthiest possible start in life,” said its lead, Caroline Cerny.

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Musings From Abroad

Morocco, France seal reconciliation with commercial deals

Published

14 hours ago

October 30, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As the two nations end years of diplomatic hostilities, Morocco signed a number of economic agreements during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the country, including an agreement to purchase high-speed trains from the French company Alstom on Monday.

In the last three years, Paris and Rabat have had a tense relationship, particularly because of immigration concerns and the disputed Western Sahara region, which Morocco wants to be recognised as Moroccan by the international world.

Macron paved the way for the reunion in July by supporting Morocco’s stance on Western Sahara after treading carefully to avoid upsetting Morocco’s adversary Algeria. Macron is travelling with about 40 business executives and 12 ministers.

Before the contract signing event at the Moroccan royal palace on Monday, Macron and his wife Brigitte were greeted at the airport by King Mohammed VI, who was walking with a cane in an unusual honour for a foreign visitor.

As Morocco looks to extend an existing line farther south to Marrakech by 2030, Alstom of France and Morocco’s rail operator ONCF struck a deal to purchase 12 high-speed carriages and the option for an additional six.

French energy companies Engie and EDF also inked agreements to grow in the renewable energy space, and TotalEnergies inked a hydrogen agreement, though the exact sum was not immediately made public. Additionally, the shipping corporation CMA CGM revealed plans to invest in a port terminal in Morocco.

Although they did not provide a detailed breakdown, French officials stated that contracts for both parties totalled more than 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion).

Additionally, France hoped the visit would ease tensions surrounding immigration, a contentious subject in France where right-wing groups are pressuring the government to return more undesired migrants to nations like Morocco.

To put pressure on these nations to make it easier for those people to return, Paris decided in 2021 to substantially reduce the number of visas it gives to travellers from North Africa.

Musings From Abroad

Ghana: Ahead of elections, US imposes visa restrictions on those ‘undermining democracy’

Published

1 day ago

October 29, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Ahead of Ghana’s December presidential and legislative elections, the United States, on Monday, unveiled a policy restricting visas for those Washington believes are contributing to the country’s democratic decline.

“This visa restriction policy would apply only to specific individuals who undermine democracy and is not directed at the Ghanaian people nor the government of Ghana,” U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said in a statement.

Ghana’s track record of stability and peaceful elections since switching to multiparty governance in the early 1990s sets it apart from other countries in West Africa.

The nation’s standing as a secure democracy in a turbulent subregion has been emphasised by rising insecurity and democratic backsliding elsewhere in West Africa.

Up until now, the United States and Ghana have maintained cordial ties based on common views on a wide range of foreign policy matters and expanding counterterrorism collaboration.