Liverpool to campaign against sugar in drinks
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- Published: Tuesday, 10 May 2016 07:36
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Liverpool City Council has launched a high-profile profile campaign entitled "Is your child's sweet tooth harming their health?" which will outline how many sugar cubes are in drinks such as Lucozade, Coca-Cola, Tropicana, Capri-Sun and Ribena. Public Health Liverpool says around 2,000 children in the city will have had tooth extractions by the age of five with more than a third suffering from tooth decay, and recently a 14-year-old child needed 15 adult teeth removing.
The campaign highlights that 500ml of Lucozade contains 15.5 cubes (64 grams) of sugar while an equivalent bottle of Coca-Cola has 13.5 cubes (54 grams) - against a maximum daily allowance of five to seven cubes for children depending upon their age.
Director of Public Health, Dr Sandra Davies, said: "We are the first local authority in the country to name how much sugar is in specific brands because we feel it is really important that all parents have the facts they need when making decisions about which drinks to give their children. Many of us are not in the habit of studying labels on drinks and the evidence that we have is that people don't realise how much sugar is in them, so we are taking steps to support them to make healthier choices. Our advice to parents is to take their child to the dentist by the age of one and teach them to brush their teeth correctly from an early age."
Sondos Albadri, Reader and Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry at the University of Liverpool, said: "There is a myth that baby teeth are not important but the fact is that they are vital as they help guide adult teeth into position. Persistent infections can be detrimental to the child general health and early loss of baby teeth can also lead to problems with adult teeth later in life.The problem with tooth decay in Liverpool isn't only confined to younger children and we are increasingly seeing children aged between 12 and 16 at the Dental Hospital. I had to remove 15 adult teeth on a 14-year-old recently, and while that is an extreme case it is by no means a rare occurrence. All of this is largely preventable by reducing sugar intake and keeping teeth clean by brushing twice a day."
The number of sugar cubes (each containing 4g of sugar) in popular drinks, according to Public Health Liverpool:
15.5 Lucozade (500ml).
13.5 Coca Cola (500ml).
12.7 Frijj chocolate milkshake (471ml).
8.25 Capri-Sun (330ml)
7.5 Tropicana orange juice (330ml).
7.25 Ribena (288ml)
5.75 Volvic flavoured water (500ml).
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