Sugars – part of a bigger picture?

Abstract If levels of health in the worst performing regions in England matched the best performing ones, England would have one of the lowest burdens of disease of any developed country. So what can be done from a diet and nutrition perspective to support this shift, and what role does the current preoccupation with intakes of free sugars have to play? Public Health England has recently furnished the Department of Health with an evidence package, detailing eight levers that could be used in a sugar reduction package. Evidently, the current levels of free sugars consumption are considerably in excess of the latest recommendations and attention needs to be drawn to this fact but sugar has held centre stage for some time, arguably detracting focus away from the many other attributes of a healthy diet, such as fatty acid profile, salt, protein and fibre content and the provision of adequate amounts of the full complement of vitamins and minerals. As the Department of Health prepares to launch its Childhood Obesity Strategy, the challenge will be to communicate a dietary approach for families that helps ensure energy intakes are aligned with energy expenditure plus also is rich in micronutrients and provides adequate fibre through inclusion of grains, pulses, vegetables and fruit. During the early months of 2016, a revised version of the eatwell plate healthy eating guide is anticipated, which will provide a basis for the nutrition community and the media to promote sound nutriti...
Source: Nutrition Bulletin - Category: Nutrition Authors: Tags: News and Views Source Type: research