Obesity Health Alliance Responds to Business Coalition on Sugar Levy
The Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) has released a statement in response to a call by a coalition of British businesses to ‘can the soft drinks tax’. The FSEM is a member of the OHA and supports the sugar levy as one of the measures needed, alongside regular physical activity, to safeguard the health of children and young people.
FSEM President, Dr Paul D Jackson comments:“The FSEM supports the Obesity Health Alliance statement and its call for a tax on high sugar beverages. A sugar levy is an important part of a set of measures which will help families achieve healthy active lifestyles and should be implemented in conjunction with advice and intervention on physical activity and diet.
“We look forward to the government’s forthcoming childhood obesity strategy which we hope will contain a broad set of measures, addressing both diet and physical activity, to tackle the growing obesity problem.”
The OHA statement: “The soft drinks industry levy will save money tomorrow by helping to tackle children’s obesity today. Sugary soft drinks have no nutritional value and are the single biggest contributor to a child’s sugar intake, and high consumption of sugar is one of the factors fuelling the obesity crisis. A third of children are overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school, putting them at a greater risk of serious health conditions later in life such as Type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart and liver disease and associated mental health problems. These conditions place an immense toll on our nation’s health and our already-stretched health service. The levy has huge potential help tackle obesity and save the NHS money.”
Find out why the FSEM supports the OAH and its policy position on childhood obesity.
The FSEM also responded to research by Cardiff University Dental School on the consumption of high sugar sports drinks by adolescents. Read our statement Regular Consumption of Sports Drinks are a Risk to Children’s Health here.
View the CMO guidelines for physical activity in children and young people here.
