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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

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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

Egypt, Turkey foreign ministers hold talks in Cairo over restoration of diplomatic ties

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A Turkish diplomat is in Egypt for the first time since relations broke between the countries a decade ago.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, at a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry spoke on the possibility of restoring ties to the ambassadorial level which would happen at “the appropriate time.”

“I’m very glad that we are taking concrete steps for normalising relations with Egypt… We will do our best not to rupture our ties again in the future,” Cavusoglu said.

Turkey established diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1925 at the level of Charge d’ Affaires and upgraded its mission in Cairo to the Ambassadorial level in 1948. Relations however became strained in 2013 after Egypt’s then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi, an ally of Ankara, but have gradually thawed since 2021.

Consultations between senior foreign ministry officials in Ankara and Cairo began in 2021, amid Turkey’s efforts to ease tensions with Egypt, the UAE, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

Shoukry referred to a brief meeting between Sisi and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the Qatar World Cup, that “there is a political will and directives from the presidents of both countries when they met in Doha … to launch the path towards a full normalisation of relations.”

Egypt is Turkey’s major commercial partner in the African continent but the two countries differ on several issues that they must work out in order to push their bilateral relations forward.

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Musings From Abroad

UK interior minister, Suella Braverman, to visit Rwanda for further talks on migration deal

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British interior minister Suella Braverman is scheduled to visit the East African country, Rwanda for further discussions on an agreement where Britain will relocate migrants who arrive without permission.

Braverman, who will also meet Rwandan President Paul Kagame during the trip. said that the removal of migrants to Rwanda could be put into action shortly.

“I am visiting Rwanda this weekend to reinforce the government’s commitment to the partnership as part of our plan to stop the boats and discuss plans to operationalise our agreement shortly,” she said in a statement.

The UK government had reached an agreement with Rwanda in April to deport people who enter the country illegally to the East African country in an exchange deal worth £120 for millions in development aid.

The agreement was reached to send tens of thousands of migrants more than 4,000 miles away (6,400 km) to Rwanda. The British government has maintained raised the need to disrupt the activities of smugglers while addressing humanitarian concerns.

Opposition parties and charities have described the government’s plans for immigration as unethical and unworkable but Braverman defended her approach, and described her opponents as “naive do-gooders.”

A refugee is someone who is ‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”

Britain spends more than 2 billion pounds a year to accommodate them and has tendered a $95 million contract to transport them to countries like Rwanda instead.

A record 45,000 migrants arrived in Britain last year on small boats. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that finding a solution is one of his top priorities.

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