Ban all drinks but water from the dinner table, parents told

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...ents-told.html

Ban all drinks but water from dinner table, parents told

Britain's war on obesity must start by consigning sugary drinks to special occasions, the government's chief obesity adviser has said

Parents should only serve water to their children during meals

Parents should only serve water with meals and ban fizzy drinks and juices from the dining table in order to reduce their children’s intake of sugar, the government’s chief obesity adviser has said.

The recommendation came ahead of new scientific advice being published about how much sugar people should consume and proposed measures to reduce public levels of consumption.

Prof Susan Jebb, chairman of the government’s responsibility deal with the food and drinks industry, also said doctors needed to be less reticent about telling overweight people to diet.

Professor Jebb said families should introduce strict rules about such drinks, limiting juice intake to one small glass a day with breakfast.

"Drink water, that’s the very simple advice to parents," she said. "Encourage your children to stick with water. Low-fat milk is fine but water should be the mainstay," she added.

Prof Jebb said sugary drinks had a particularly significant impact on obesity because children and adults tended to consume them in addition to their calorie intake from food, not in place of solid foods.

"The biggest source of sugar across all age groups is sugar-sweetened beverages and those are an obvious target for action," she added.

The professor of diet and population health at Oxford University made the comments amid rising concern that sugar has become one of the greatest threats to health, fuelling an obesity time bomb and contributing to spiralling levels of diabetes.

Her remarks were backed by Prof Tom Sanders, Head of Diabetes and Nutritional Sciences Division, at King’s College London who said families needed to return to the days of having a jug of water on the table at all meal times.

He said: "The problem is a lot of people don’t drink water any more. At the dinner table keep it simple; just have water on the table - not pop, not juice, not squash."

He said parents should stop buying soft drinks and squash cordials, and instead see them as an occasional treat.

Last month a national study found that children and teenagers are consuming around 40 per cent more added sugar than the recommended daily allowance – with fruit juices and fizzy drinks the chief culprit.

Two thirds of adults in Britain are overweight or obese, and British girls below the age of 20 are now the most overweight in Western Europe.

In an interview, Prof Jebb said GPs needed to do more to raise the issue with overweight patients.

"I think maybe we are a bit too reticent about telling them that maybe they should go on a diet," she said. "We have no qualms in telling people who are smokers that they ought to stop smoking, but we are reticent about telling people to go on a diet.

"Part of the reticence comes out of the sense that many diets fail or, more accurately, many people who try to diet fail. But many people who try to give up smoking fail. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have another go," Prof Jebb said.

She suggested those who are overweight should set themselves an aim of once every five years losing at least 5 per cent of their bodyweight - accepting that some of the weight lost was likely to creep back on.

Prof Sanders also said Britain could learn from the French, by restoring more structured meal times, instead of snacks on the go.

"We need to come to terms with more structured eating and rethink the way we eat," he said.

"The French talk about food far more and spend far more time eating but actually have far less obesity so you can actually enjoy your food .. but its about eating less."

He said Britain’s culture of "24/7 snacking" and "eating on the hoof" was fuelling an obesity epidemic, which has left British girls the most overweight in Europe.

On Thursday two reports will be published, setting out new advice from the Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s on recommended sugar limits, alongside a raft of proposals by Public Health England (PHE) about how to help people reduce their sugar intake.

The quango is considering options including targets to reduce sugar content in some foods, as was introduced with salt, increased restrictions on advertisements for processed foods and a tax on sugary products.

Ministers have already indicated that they would rule out such taxes until there is more evidence from other countries that they make a significant impact. A draft version of the PHE paper said sugary drinks have been described as a "low hanging fruit" for a sugar tax, highlighting research showing that a 20 per cent tax on sugar-sweetened drinks "could reduce consumption and prevalence of obesity in adults by 1.3 per cent".

Last month a league table of 22 nations found British girls and women under the age of 20 are the most overweight in Western Europe, with 29.2 per cent overweight or obese.

Of those, 8 per cent of the girls meet the clinical definition of obesity, having a Body Mass Index of 30 or above. An estimated 26 per cent of British boys under 20 are overweight and obese – placing them 10th.

The comment below on the article sums up food and health fascism perfectly.

I would sack (and not replace) this woman, as I would so so many other government 'tsars' or 'experts'. Sack the lot.

Thoughts?

[Chippiewill]

It's a recommendation not a law. Get over it.

[buttons]

ya it's stupid. i was only allowed water at dinner because anything else filled me up and so i wouldn't eat much of my food. apparently (hss been both proven and disproven) it's unhealthy to drink anything whilst eating and so they've contradicted themselves by suggesting you drink anything at all.

[sex]

dunno how anyone had anything excpt water with their dinner or an alcoholic bevvie x

[-:Undertaker:-]

It's a recommendation not a law. Get over it.

If you had read the entire article, rather than part of it, you'll see that it comes before more state proposals for interference...

On Thursday two reports will be published, setting out new advice from the Government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s on recommended sugar limits, alongside a raft of proposals by Public Health England (PHE) about how to help people reduce their sugar intake.

The quango is considering options including targets to reduce sugar content in some foods, as was introduced with salt, increased restrictions on advertisements for processed foods and a tax on sugary products.

Ministers have already indicated that they would rule out such taxes until there is more evidence from other countries that they make a significant impact. A draft version of the PHE paper said sugary drinks have been described as a "low hanging fruit" for a sugar tax, highlighting research showing that a 20 per cent tax on sugar-sweetened drinks "could reduce consumption and prevalence of obesity in adults by 1.3 per cent".

[Kardan]

Surely it's just as much of a suggestion as 'You should have 2000/2500 calories a day' and 'Eat 5 portions of fruit and veg'...

[Chippiewill]

If you had read the entire article, rather than part of it, you'll see that it comes before more state proposals for interference...

You'd think the telegraph would lead with that if it were of any significance.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Surely it's just as much of a suggestion as 'You should have 2000/2500 calories a day' and 'Eat 5 portions of fruit and veg'...

Nope, look above... moves are being made for yet more taxation, regulation and restrictions when it comes to food.

I just can't wait until they really start with internet regulation to protect the childrennnn, then you'll all be up in arms and it serves you right.

[scottish]

Seems like it apart from the sugar tax

[-:Undertaker:-]

You'd think the telegraph would lead with that if it were of any significance.

It has done, but in other articles.

This article is about the comments this government tsar has made in the wake of the reports.