(By Dr. Joseph D. Lim and Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI)
EIGHT in 10 of seven-year-olds in the United Kingdom exceed their daily limit of sugar.
Indeed, four in five seven-year-olds are consuming excessive levels of sugar, according to a new study conducted at the University College London.
You’d be surprised, considering that fruit juices and yogurts are considered by many to be “health drinks”. For toddlers in the UK, sugary intake mainly came from pure fruit juices and yogurts.
However for children the key sugar sources are, pure fruit juices (again), chocolate-based confectionery, cakes and pastries.
Indeed, the study found that children in the UK consume free sugars from a very young age. What is alarming is that it starts from a very young age, as young as when they are infants.
In fact, many infants’ sugar intake exceeds the maximum amount for children aged four and above, the study finds.
Free sugar is sugar found in fruits, syrups and juices and even honey. Free sugar also comes from sugar added to a food or drink.
Fruit, vegetables and milk sugar is fine because they provide nutrients such as fiber. Once juiced, however, the sugars come out of the cells and become free sugars and the fiber is lost.
This is why we can drink orange juice squeezed from four oranges but couldn’t consume four oranges in a row. The free sugar in juices doesn’t make us feel all that full. And that’s when we tend to over-indulge.
The University College London research reveals that at least 80 percent of children in the UK are consuming above the recommended limit of 10 percent of daily calories coming from free sugars.
The guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that free sugars should not make up more than this, recommending 5 percent instead as the target for optimal health.
Contrary to the WHO guidelines, UK toddlers consume more than six teaspoons (25.6 grams) of free sugar every day. By the age of seven, this increases to 18 teaspoons (57.4 g).
In contrast, only 16 percent of toddlers aged 21 months, and less than 2 percent of seven-year-olds, meet the WHO’s recommended intake.
The study indicates “the high amounts of added sugar in modern diets,” said Lisa Heggie, a researcher from University College London. Many sugars come from packaged and ultra-processed foods that are often earmarked as healthy, she pointed out.
The study concludes that more research is needed to analyze the link between free sugar intake among toddlers and the risk of obesity in later life.
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Dr. Joseph D. Lim is the former Associate Dean of the College of Dentistry, University of the East; former Dean, College of Dentistry, National University; Past President and Honorary Fellow of the Asian Oral Implant Academy; Honorary Fellow of the Japan College of Oral Implantologists; and Honorary Life Member of the Thai Association of Dental Implantology. For questions on dental health, e-mail jdlim2008@gmail.com or text 0917-8591515.
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Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI, graduated Doctor of Dental Medicine, University of the Philippines College of Dentistry, Manila, 2011; Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management, De la Salle University, Manila, 2002; and Master of Science (MSc.) in Oral Implantology, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, 2019. He is an Associate professor; Fellow, International Congress of Oral Implantologists; Member, American Academy of Implant Dentistry and Philippine College of Oral Implantologists. For questions on dental health, e-mail limdentalcenter@gmail.com/PN
