MummyPages mums advocate a ‘spoonful of sugar’ advisory label to beat obesity epidemic

MummyPages.ie launches the first in a series of research reports looking at the obesity crisis in Ireland and the steps that both parents and policy-makers can take to tackle our country’s health.

The first piece of research in the 12-month programme takes a look at the role of sugar in fuelling our growing obesity problem, and coincides with the revealing documentary ‘Sugar Crash’ at 9:35pm tomorrow Monday 11th January on RTE1. The documentary follows MummyPages family, the Ryans from Kilkenny, who participate in a 30-day Sugar Detox Challenge with advice from Dr. Eva Orsmond and Elsa Jones, nutritionist and author of best-selling book ‘Goodbye Sugar’.

New advisory labelling proposed by MummPages

Key MummyPages Mum Insights:
• 87% of mums find it easier to think about sugar consumption in teaspoons rather than grams
• 91% of mums think that food labels should clearly identify serving sizes with a corresponding sugar quantity in teaspoons so that it is readily understood
• 78% of mums think that food labels should be accompanied by a the World Health Organisation guidelines outlining recommended adult and child sugar, salt and saturated fat consumption
• 96% of mums don’t know how many grams of sugar are equal to a teaspoon of sugar
• 92% of mums don’t know the recommended amount of added sugar they should consume in a day
• 98% of mums don’t know the recommended amount of added sugar their children should consume in a day
• 28% of mums read food labels when doing their grocery shopping
• 54% of mums carefully consider the fat content in foods consumed for lunch and dinner time meals including ready-meals, cooking sauces and processed foods
• 17% of mums carefully consider the sugar content in foods consumed for lunch and dinner time meals including ready-meals, cooking sauces and processed foods
• 77% of mums are aware of the high sugar content that can be found in some breakfast cereals, after dinner desserts and treat foods
• 39% of mums only offer their children water or milk to drink
• 53% of mums say their children will only drink flavoured water or juice drinks
• 79% of mums reach for a sugary treat to soothe an upset child
• 61% of mums offer their children sugary treats even when they don’t ask for them

Table highlights the recommended daily sugar intake for families by the W.H.O

Commenting on the research, Laura Haugh Mum-in-Residence for MummyPages.ie says:

“Almost a third of our mums read food labels when out shopping, however nine in ten mums don’t readily understand the real meaning of the sugar content in their food and where it fits within their daily guidelines.”

“A lot of our MummyPages mums were surprised about the amount of hidden sugars in foods that weren’t obviously ‘treat foods’. They also struggle with determining at a glance, whether a food is high, medium or low in sugar according to the recommended portion size. A simple step from food manufacturers to include this information in a way that is easily understood, such as teaspoon quantity as well as metric quantities, could have a significant impact in educating consumers to make more informed decisions.”

“We want the Government to back our MummyPages campaign to not only denote sugar quantities on food labels in teaspoons per portion size, but also to make it mandatory to include the recommended guidelines for daily sugar, fat and salt consumption on food labels. This small change would not cost the consumer any more money unlike the ‘sugar tax’ previously suggested by the Health Minister, Leo Varadkar TD to tackle our spiralling obesity crisis. Instead it would have a far more powerful and long-lasting impact, by educating adults and children alike as to how much sugar they are consuming in their foods relative to what they should be.”

“There are also ‘fat’ skinny people who will benefit from being more aware of their sugar intake and the effect it can have on their health. High cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and cancer have all been linked to high sugar consumption and as such, we need to think wider than our obesity problem if we are to meet the long term issues that will put further pressure on our health system long term.”