Children eat three times as much sugar as they should do

Children are eating three times the amount of sugar they should be by the age of seven, a new study has found. 

Research by University College London (UCL) revealed that fruit juices and smoothies were the chief culprits, with experts warning that deceptive labelling is fooling parents into buying items which are packed full of sugar.

The study of 2,400 British families, which will be presented to the European Congress on Obesity in Maastricht, found that less than one in 50 children is sticking to recommended sugar limits.

It comes amid record levels of childhood obesity, with four in 10 children obese or overweight by the time they finish primary school.

Fruit juice and smoothies made up the greatest share of sugar in the diets of toddlers and children, the study found.

For seven-year-olds, 12.5 per cent of their sugar intake came from juices, while 9.8 per cent came from pastries, buns and cakes, and eight per cent from chocolate.

For toddlers, juices contributed 9.3 per cent of sugar, while 8.3 per cent came from yoghurts and 7.5 per cent came from fromage frais.

Overall, children were found to be eating the equivalent of 18 teaspoons of sugar a day on average by the age of seven - compared with a recommended limit of six teaspoons.

Toddlers were averaging more than six teaspoons of sugar a day, exceeding the five teaspoon recommended limit for four-year-olds.

Researchers said children should be encouraged to stick to drinking water.

The new analysis of 2,336 children found that, by the age of seven, eight in 10 children had exceeded the recommended limit of 10 per cent of daily calories from "free sugars" - any sugar added to a food or drink.

Just 1.5 per cent had an average daily free sugar intake below the five per cent target.

More than a third of toddlers were eating above recommended limits.

Lisa Heggie, lead researcher on the study at UCL, said: “We need to make sure that children are encouraged to drink water instead of beverages high in free sugar to reduce risk of childhood obesity and to improve child dental health, and to choose foods that don’t contain added sugars like fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Parents would also benefit from clearer nutrition information on these foods to make them aware of the hidden sugar. It is misleading and unhelpful for products to make claims such as ‘no added sugar’, when the product contains high levels of naturally occurring free sugars because it has been processed (e.g. concentrated fruit juice).”

She said parents who were trying to provide a healthy diet for their children were often misled by marketing claims.

“Much of children’s daily sugar intake is hidden in packaged and ultra-processed foods, many of which are marketed as healthy,” she said, warning that some yoghurts contain up to four teaspoons of sugar.

Katharine Jenner, director and registered nutritionist at Action on Sugar, said firmer action was needed to police food marketing, and reduce sugar content in foods for the young.

"Evidence shows that a preference for sweet flavours is established at a very young age, yet policies to reduce sugar are not aimed at infants and toddlers which is ludicrous,” she said.

“What's more, products high in processed sugars are allowed to make misleading health claims and market themselves as ‘suitable for children’, along with cartoon images on the pack.”

'Misleading labelling' 

Caroline Cerny, alliance lead at Obesity Health Alliance, said: “Misleading labelling on products aimed at young children can lead parents to think they are healthier than they are.

“The Government could do much more to address this problem by tackling dishonest labelling and bringing in new measures to encourage businesses to make their products less sugary – just as the soft drinks levy has done with drinks.”

The UCL study has been tracking 2,400 British families with twins born in 2007.

Parents were asked to complete three-day eating diaries for 2,336 children when they were 21 months old, with a subset of 460 families asked to repeat the exercise when children reached the age of seven.

Researchers calculated average total daily intakes of energy and counted any free sugars from foods and beverages. The study did not include the sugars that occur naturally in whole fruits and vegetables, or in dairy.

Previous studies have found that the average five-year-old consumes the equivalent of their body weight in sugar over the course of a year.

Gavin Partington, director-general of the British Soft Drinks Association, said fruit and vegetable juice only make up two per cent of total energy intake for children aged four to 10.

He said: “Fruit juice is a completely natural product. Sugars, sweeteners, preservatives, flavourings or colourings cannot be added, and this is regulated by legislation. 

"Fruit juice and smoothies contain a wealth of essential nutrients and vitamins such as potassium, folate and vitamin C, which is needed for a healthy muscle function, healthy immune system and to reduce tiredness and fatigue. A 150ml serving of fruit juice counts as one of your five a day, a target which is currently so widely missed by children.”

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said successive governments have ignored pleas to take action to tackle childhood obesity for more than two decades.

“Boris Johnson will not deliver on his promise to halve childhood obesity by 2030 without tackling children's sugar consumption head on,” he said.