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Action on Sugar

Supporters

We'd like to thank the following charities for their support of Sugar Awareness Week 2021:

 

Adopt a School said:

"As a food education charity working with chefs to teach children about food and how it impacts our bodies and the environment, The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Adopt a School Trust is pleased to support Sugar Awareness Week. While the healthiest choice isn’t always the easiest one, this is a perfect time for all of us to think more about what we are eating and ramp up our efforts to reduce the amount of sugar we eat every day. This is crucial if we are to tackle child obesity and tooth decay.”

Bart’s Community Smiles said:

'Barts Community Smiles is proud to be involved in the Sugar Awareness Week campaign once more- we are a student-led volunteering group dedicated to raising awareness about oral health and cutting down on sugar is one of the best things a person can do for their teeth. With so many foods containing sugars cleverly disguised as healthy, we want to tackle this by educating the public about how to be sugar smart and making low-sugar food swaps. It's never too late to cut down and Sugar Awareness Week is a great opportunity to make a positive change for your health.'

BiteBack 2030 said:

"It's fantastic that Action on Sugar keep raising awareness of just how much sugar is being snuck into people's diets. Together with Action on Sugar, Bite Back 2030 found just how difficult brands are making it for young people (and shoppers more generally) to understand exactly what it is they are eating, through the use of misleading health and nutrition claims like "no added sugar" and “tastes good, does good”. Teens are consuming over twice the recommended maximum of free sugars, which is unsurprising given a supermarket Meal Deal can contain 24 teaspoons of sugar (97g), over 3 times the daily recommendation. We want food and drink companies to be honest and transparent about their products - find out more and take action at https://donthidewhatsinside.biteback2030.com/"

Blood Pressure UK said:

"Blood Pressure UK is pleased to support Sugar Awareness Week once again to highlight it's link to high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, which are largely due to consuming too much sugar, salt, fat and alcohol. It is vital that we reduce the amount of free sugars in our diets to have any chance of improving the health of the UK population."

Breast Cancer UK said:

"Breast Cancer UK is pleased to support Sugar Awareness Week to highlight its link to obesity, which can be a significant factor in breast cancer risk. 

British Dental Association said: 

“COVID means deep health inequalities are set to widen, driven by wholly preventable diseases. Now more than ever Government has a responsibility to make sugar the new tobacco.” 

Chair, Eddie Crouch

British Dietetic Association said:

“The British Dietetic Association is pleased to continue its support for Sugar Awareness Week to highlight the need to reduce the amount of free sugar in our diets and help people to improve their diets overall. The BDA supports a range of actions to facilitate restrictions on unhealthy food marketing and online advertising and is currently considering these in its response to the National Food Strategy. The week continues to be a creative opportunity to consider those further steps we all need to take to create a healthier and more sustainable food system.”

British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) said:

“BSPD supports the drive to improve clear and consistent food and drinks labelling so that parents and care-givers can ensure that the choices they make on what to give children is properly informed. We have been calling for mandatory sugar labelling for years, along with a tax on items with high sugar content. Whilst there has been some progress in these areas, it has been disappointing slow.

Research has proven that excessive or frequent consumption of sugar is bad for children’s overall health – including their oral health. Whilst there has been some engagement from brands marketing to children, it is clear that there is more to be done.  BSPD has been campaigning for improving standards in children’s oral health in the UK for almost 70 years and collaboration is needed across policy makers, health care providers and industry to drive down the level of decay in children’s teeth.”

Professor Claire Stevens CBE, Spokesperson

Centre for Food Policy & City University said:

"We are really pleased to be supporting this year’s Sugar Awareness Week. This is not just about the public understanding how much sugar they are eating, but making the case for government and business action. It’s important that policy-makers use regulation to level the playing field for businesses to reduce sugar levels in their products (without making healthier options more expensive). This is a key factor in changing our food environments to prioritise equitable health."

Kimberley Neve ANutr, Research Assistant, Obesity Policy Research Unit

Children’s Food Campaign said:

“We all want our children to grow up healthy, with daily access to affordable, nutritious and tasty food. However, the food industry constantly deluges us with offers and advertising for sweets, confectionery, cakes, biscuits and ice creams, with many products also packaged and marketed with cartoon characters to appeal to children. The result is that as a nation we are snacking more and more. Sugar Awareness Week 2021 throws a super useful spotlight on the sugar lurking in the snacks we eat, and how we could put healthier options centre stage instead. We’d like to see the Government taking more action too – from rules to make sure child friendly characters promote only healthy food, to industry levies similar to those on soft drinks could encourage companies to make healthier snacks too. Together we can bring about healthy change.”

Early Start Nutrition Group said: 

"Early Start Nutrition are delighted to support Sugar Awareness Week. Snack times are a great opportunity to offer children a range of nutritious foods, so we help early years’ settings to provide a variety of snacks to ensure children get important nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals. We encourage children to get involved in making snacks too, as this helps them to learn about food and develop their cooking skills. We welcome increased awareness on the impact of high sugar snacks on children’s long term health and wellbeing outcomes." 

Faculty of Public Health said:

"The Faculty supports Sugar Awareness Week as a way of highlighting the detrimental impact of sugar on the levels of obesity, tooth decay – particularly in children and young people - and type 2 diabetes. Approximately two-thirds of our adult population and 20% of our year-6 children are overweight or obese. These impacts are not equally distributed across the UK, with children in the most deprived communities having twice the obesity and overweight levels of those in the least deprived communities. This level of obesity costs the NHS £6bn per year, with indirect costs estimated at £27bn. The Faculty of Public Health has previously supported the successful levy on soft drinks and currently supports the proposed levy on wholesale sugar sales as proposed in the National Food Strategy Review published this summer.” 

First Steps Nutrition Trust said:

“We’re pleased to see snacks in the spotlight for this year’s Sugar Awareness Week. It is not commonly understood that snacks are unnecessary for babies under 12 months of age (and not just the sugary ones), who just need appropriate meals and milk to meet their nutritional requirements (you can read more about eating well in the first year in our guide here)”

Dr Vicky Sibson, Director, First Steps Nutrition Trust

Food Active said:

“We are really pleased to be supporting this year’s Sugar Awareness Week. Sugar consumption in the UK is still too high in the UK – latest data shows that teenagers (11-18 year olds) are consuming more than double the daily recommended daily intake.  

But is this really a surprise given the availability and accessibility of sugary foods and drinks, from corner shops, to vending machines, to constant marketing on TV and social media? 

Even though we have made good progress with the soft drinks industry levy, there is still much more that the food and drink industry can do to reduce sugar and provide healthier options. That’s why Sugar Awareness Week is a great way to keep the pressure on the Government and food industry to step up to the plate and make sugar reduction a priority for the public’s health!”

Obesity Health Alliance said:

“Our food environment is flooded with sugary foods and these products are also heavily marketed, all of which is having an impact on our health. The Obesity Health Alliance recently published ‘Turning the Tide: A 10-year Healthy Weight Strategy’ which called on the government to recognise the limitations of the current voluntary sugar reduction programme and bring in a new levy on the food industry to incentivise them to reduce sugar from their products.” 

Oral Health Foundation said:

“Consuming too much sugar, too often, can have a devastating affect on a person’s life. Not only does it lead to a number of general health conditions like diabetes and obesity, but it is also the direct cause of tooth decay. Despite it being almost entirely preventable, millions of British people suffer from tooth decay and it is the number one reason why children are admitted to hospital. The Oral Health Foundation is proud to be supporting Sugar Awareness Week and raising awareness about the health risks associated with sugar. By reducing how much sugar we have, and how often we have it, we can improve the health of our mouth and give ourselves a better quality of life.”

Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) said:

“RSPH is proud to support sugar awareness week 2021.  We know that the amount of free sugar in diets is one of the key factors driving the obesity crisis in the UK and inturn leading to long term ill health.  Whilst progress has been made over the last 6 years we must do more to support the reduction of free sugars from the diet if we are to be able to turn the tide on the obesity crisis.”

ShareAction said:

“Our food and drink contain too much sugar and we know that excessive sugar consumption increases the risk of obesity. With almost a third of UK children being overweight or obese, it is critical that companies and their investors take note of their responsibility in creating healthier food environments. ShareAction’s Healthy Market’s campaign fully supports Sugar Awareness Week and the need to highlight what our food system can do reduce the nation's sugar intake and improve the health of children and society as a whole.” 

Soil Association said:

“The Soil Association works to make good food available for all. That means having a food system that supports us by making healthy choices the easiest ones. Our 2021 Out to Lunch campaign found that desserts in high street restaurants are still sugar super-loaded, with the worst of them containing almost 3 times the recommended daily allowance of sugar for 4–6-year-olds! Since the campaign started in 2013 we have seen restaurants cut out the sugary drinks but rather than switching to healthy alternatives, they are pumped with artificial sweeteners which are also bad for our health. We’re confident this can change – there are some restaurants already proving we can still have delicious desserts and drinks without all the sugar and artificial replacements!” 

Sugar Smart and Sustain said:

“Sustain’s Sugar Smart campaign is pleased to put support behind Sugar Awareness Week this year. After a challenging 18 months where many council teams and local organisations in our network had to shift away from awareness raising to address the acute impacts of the pandemic, most are now reviving their healthy eating work and we are here to support them with engagement opportunities such as this Week. We know that lockdown has increased snacking culture, especially among families, with 70% reporting an increase in snacking between meals. This is a crucial time to raise public awareness locally, but also to call on businesses and the government to do their part to ensure families are not bombarded with promotion and over-availability of unhealthy food and drink.”

Vera Zakharov, Sugar Smart Campaign Coordinator

The Association for the Study of Obesity said:

“The Association for the Study of Obesity (@UK_ASO) is dedicated to the understanding, prevention and treatment of obesity and aims to develop an understanding of obesity through the pursuit of excellence in research and education, the facilitation of contact between individuals and organisations, and the promotion of action to prevent and treat obesity. ASO continues to support Action on Sugar and efforts to raise awareness of the harmful effects of a diet that is high in sugar and excess calories. This year’s focus on reducing the consumption of snacks that are high in sugar is especially important given the methods that are by industry to target children and young people.”

The Caroline Walker Trust said: 

"The Caroline Walker Trust are supporting Sugar Awareness Week and the importance of giving children access to nutritious snacks. The best snacks are those which provide children with additional nutrients to support their growth and development. We recognise the importance of protecting children’s dental health and ensuring children are not having sugary food as snacks between meals. We welcome the opportunity to support children and their families to have access to healthier snack options."

The College of General Dentistry said:

“In the UK we consume three times the recommended maximum amount of sugar. Tooth decay is almost wholly preventable, but affects a quarter of 5 year olds and a third of 12-year-olds, and tooth extraction is the number one reason children are admitted to hospital. Reducing sugar intake lowers our risk not only of tooth decay, but of a wide range of illnesses including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke - and indirectly some cancers. Through education and regulatory action, consumers of all ages need to be empowered to make the healthy choices the easier ones.”

Roshni Karia MCGDent, Vice President, College of General Dentistry

The Dental Wellness Trust said:

“The latest dental survey from Public Health England 2019 showed that over 23% of children in England have dental decay. This can lead to tooth ache, pain, infection and early tooth loss, which isn't just detrimental to a child's dental health but has a knock-on impact to their development, nutrition and growth.  Dental decay is preventable, it's caused by too much sugar and not enough brushing.  We are very concerned about children's dental health and the impact of covid. With challenges accessing dental care and increased consumption of sugary snacks, we fear that oral health in this country has declined. 

We want to empower children with the knowledge about the negative impact that sugar has and allow them to make the right choices for their health. Reducing the consumption of sugary drinks and snacks is essential for the fight against dental decay, childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes.”

World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) said:

“We know that when children consume lots of sugary drinks and snacks, it can contribute to being overweight or obesity. Children who are overweight or obese are more likely to be so adults, and in cancer terms, this is bad because this can increase the risk of at least 12 cancers including bowel cancer and breast cancer.

We are supporting Sugar Awareness Week and want to see more healthy snacks available at affordable prices for families to help contribute towards healthy, balanced diets for all.” 

Kate Oldridge-Turner, WCRF International Head of Policy & Public Affairs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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