Fruit juice timebomb as health experts advise just one glass a day


  • Fruit juice should be limited as it contains a lot of sugar, experts warn
  • Those aged 11 to 19 are eating 42 per cent more sugar than recommended
  • Age group also eating 14 per cent too much fat, risking diabetes and stroke
  • Only one third of adults get recommended five-a-day survey reveals
  • Medics say government Change4Life advertising is having little impact

By
Sophie Borland

17:14 EST, 14 May 2014

|

18:15 EST, 14 May 2014

The appalling diets of the nation’s teenagers have been exposed by a report which shows that many are already putting themselves at risk of diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

And last night health experts warned that fruit juice – seen by many as a healthy option – should be drunk no more than once a day because of its high sugar content.

Girls and boys aged 11 to 19 typically eat 42 per cent too much sugar and 14 per cent too much saturated fat.

Health experts have warned people to stick to one glass of fruit juice a day due to its high sugar content

Health experts have warned that young people
aged 11 to 19 are consuming, on average, 47 per cent too much sugar,
with the main sources being fruit juice, soft drinks, cereal bars,
biscuits and cakes

Only 10 per cent of teenage boys and 7 per cent of teenage girls manage to get their five portions of fruit and veg a day.

Adults do not fare a great deal better. Only a third get their five-a-day and the diet of the average adult exceeds recommended sugar limits by 10 per cent.

The report, the Government’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey, also shows  that children aged ten and under typically exceed the recommended daily limit of sugar by 34 per cent.

Their main sources of sugar are fruit juice, soft drinks, cereal bars, biscuits and cakes.

It reveals that adults are eating half the recommended weekly amount of oily fish – which protects against heart disease, cancer and dementia – while teenagers and children only manage a fifth of  this amount.

The survey, which involved 4,000 adults and children between 2008 and 2012, says 48 per cent of men and women have above-normal levels of cholesterol, putting them at higher risk of heart disease  and strokes.

Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘This study paints a clear picture that too many people, especially children, are not eating healthily enough.

‘This puts them at greater risk of
coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity now or in the
future. There is no magic bullet to solve this problem. Parents,
schools, restaurants, retailers and the food industry all have a role to
play.

‘But the Government can fire the first shot by implementing a 9pm watershed ban on junk food marketing to stop children being bombarded with advertising about products high in fats, salts and sugars. We also need stringent regulation to protect children from online marketing tactics.’

Only a third of adults get their recommended five-a-day, and are still eating too much fat, with 48 per cent having higher-than-average cholesterol, putting them at risk of heart attacks and strokes

Experts have also warned that government Change4Life adverts which promote healthy eating are not working, as people who already eat healthily are the only ones who pay attention

There is also concern that policies
such as the NHS’s Change4Life programme are having little effect because
only healthy adults and children pay any attention.

The
initiative, which has cost taxpayers £75million since its launch in
January 2009, consists of television adverts, a website, a helpline and
locally-run sports clubs all aimed at curbing the obesity epidemic.

The
scheme also produces posters for schools, community clubs, GP surgeries
and hospitals urging the public to eat their five- a-day, take regular
exercise and  cut portion sizes.

Dr
Ian Campbell, of the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘In spite of a raft
of measures designed to encourage us to eat a healthier diet we are, as a
nation, failing miserably.

‘If we really care about the health of our children we need to take far more decisive action.

‘We need to regulate the food industry to make healthy choices easier, more attractive and cheaper.’

Dr Alison Tedstone, the chief nutritionist at Public Health England, the Government agency that released the report, said fruit juice was a good option as one of the recommended five fruit portions a day.

But she warned: ‘It should only be drunk once a day and with  a meal because it can be high  in sugar.’

In March, Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer, said the Government may have to introduce a  sugar tax to help make the nation’s diet more healthy.

Later that month the World Health Organisation urged the public to cut their sugar intake by half to six teaspoons a day.

Yesterday Labour MP Keith Vaz called for food labels to include the numbers of teaspoons of sugar in all products.

 

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Comments (47)

what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

Tito,

Southampton, United Kingdom,

7 minutes ago

Stopped drinking fruit juice about 2 years ago because of this. If you do not agree try to eat 6 oranges in one go!

LJ_London,

London, United Kingdom,

10 minutes ago

its not pure fruit juice that is the source of the sugar problem … try soda, processed food containing hidden sugars, etc etc… Very misleading advice, when for some people, fruit juice might actually be the ONLY reasonably healthy thing they consume in a day.

Vanessa Christine,

Los Angeles, United States,

22 minutes ago

I drink orange juice couple times a day. I however do not drink soda, or any other bottled juice

Heisenberg,

Albuquerque, United States,

24 minutes ago

Is it just possible that some people can drink as much juice as they’d like without negative health issues?

Gator,

Florida, United States,

29 minutes ago

Some of these juices in the store if you read their label they are only 10% juice the rest is God knows what. I just throw a apple or orange into the juicer.

Eric Grinham,

Sydney, Australia,

38 minutes ago

The problem with fruit juice , is that it was always promoted as healthy , we never thought about the high sugar content .
Just about every Aussie kid would have fruit juice in their lunch pack .

gravedanger,

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,

44 minutes ago

I would suggest this has more to do with High fructose corn syrup than actual sugar. I bet a statistician could graph the populace obesity increase when sugar was replaced by corn syrup. Particularly in soda/pop/fizzy drinks.

hendrox,

Newcastle,

47 minutes ago

Am I the only one utterly baffled as to what’s healthy for you and what’s not these days? We were always told growing up that eating plenty of fruit and drinking lots of water daily will lead to a healthy life. Now I see that too much fruit could be too sugary and that it s recommended that we take in at least 4-5 litres of water per day. Really am lost

Eric Grinham,

Sydney, Australia,

32 minutes ago

Be very careful drinking that much water , too much water can kill , just look at the colour of your urine to see whether you are properly hydrated .
Don’t forget that you get water from many other sources , a cup of coffee is nearly all water for example .

CMST,

Texas, United States,

50 minutes ago

On the veggie side, frozen are actually more beneficial than those in the produce section. Higher concentrations of the good stuff is preserved by freezing when most fresh. The exception would be a garden or a farmers market. And of course eating veggies raw trumps cooked.

Cueace,

Near the beach, Brazil,

55 minutes ago

Natural fruit juices are fine it’s the industrialised stuff that is a problem …

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