Health Impact of Sugar Intake

68 per cent of the world’s deaths are due to non-communicable diseases.  40 per cent of those deaths are under the age of 70. Obesity is a major risk factor for many non-communicable diseases. Obesity is strongly linked to high sugar intake as part of a poor diet. In this presentation, Jatinder Bhatia defines the different types of sugar in our diet and gives a commentary on the meta-analysis of the intake of sugars around the world. He covers different age groups and their sugar consumption, as well as the effects of sugars on the risk of the development of non-communicable diseases.

He notes that change is coming in food labelling: going forward, added sugars will be clearly listed. There is continued evidence that excessive added sugars have an adverse effect on the health of children and adults.  Current recommendations suggest limiting sugar intake to less than 10 per cent of total energy intake. To achieve this goal will take a combined effort from health care providers, parents, policy makers and the food industry.