UK teens drink a "bathtub" of sugary drinks a year - study

A latest study finds out that British children aged 11 to 18 consume on average 234 cans of sugar-sweetened soft drinks each year.

CRUK says there is an urgent need to further reduce children's intake of sugary drinks.
TRT World and Agencies

CRUK says there is an urgent need to further reduce children's intake of sugary drinks.

British teenagers drink almost a bathtub full of sugary drinks each year, a leading UK-based charity dedicated to cancer research said on Tuesday.

Cancer Research UK (CRUK), in its latest study, said children aged 11 to 18 consume on average 234 cans of sugar-sweetened soft drinks each year.

The figure amounts to almost a bath full and is more than double the figure for children aged between four and 10, whose average annual intake is 110 cans.

The data stems from a report carried out by the British health department and the Food Standards Agency, charting the population's diet and nutrition.

CRUK said there was an urgent need to further reduce children's intake of sugary drinks and threw its support behind the UK government's proposal to introduce a sugar tax.

"The ripple effect of a small tax on sugary drinks is enormous, and it will give soft drinks companies a clear incentive to reduce the amount of sugar in drinks," said Alison Cox, director of prevention at CRUK.

"But the government can do more to give the next generation a better chance. The UK has an epidemic on its hands, and needs to act now," she added.

Sugar tax

British Prime Minister Theresa May revealed plans in August to introduce a sugar tax aimed at tackling childhood obesity, tooth decay and type 2 diabetes.

The sugar levy was first unveiled in March by the administration of May's predecessor David Cameron.

The tax on drinks with more than five grams of sugar per 100 millilitres will be introduced in two years, despite strong opposition from the drinks industry.

Soft drinks giant A.G. Barr, maker of Scotland's Irn-Bru fizzy drink, in September said the move towards sugar-free drinks followed "negative media coverage of the sector".

Barr said the drinks industry's own action to reduce sugar rendered the sugar tax "an unnecessary measure in the context of government health policy objectives."

Only a handful of countries such as France, South Africa and Mexico have attempted such a tax.

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