Excessive intake of refined carbohydrate, specifically sugar, has been recognized as a potential contributing element when risk of excessive weight gain is concerned.
Michelle Obama was quoted as saying “The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and security of our nation is at stake” in Let’s Move campaign in the United States in 2010, to point out the effect of obesity and high sugar content intake on Americans. These words are fully applicable in the Australian context as well.
A low to moderate daily consumption of sugar is acceptable to be part of a healthy and nutritious diet. This ‘moderate’ intake is approximately 10 % of the overall energy consumption per day. Experts suggest that, however, people consuming excessive sugary food and drinks at the cost of healthier food choices, and tend to consume a tremendous amount of “empty calories”, which is commonly seen in a developed nation like Australia, where innumerable fast food joints are established.
In addition, sweetened and aerated drinks are extensively advertised, inexpensive and commonly available. Within ten years span, the intake of soft drinks, which are loaded with sugar, has seen to be increased by 30%.
A drastic increase in the standard serving for soft drinks has also been detected within these years. A decade ago, soft drinks were sold in 3.75 ml cans. Today, soft drinks are available in 600 ml bottles providing as much as 16 teaspoons of sugar per serving, which is way greater than the per day intake of sugar content for an average adult.
Experts also found that for an average 15 year of boy, around 500 ml of soft drink alone will offer him with more than 12 % of his daily energy needs. This states that he clearly exceeds the recommended energy consumption from refined sugar with only one 500 ml can of soda/ soft drink.
The rate of obesity in young Australians has been predominantly increasing at a rapid rate in comparison to other OECD nations, including the USA. Obesity, together with tobacco and high alcohol intake has been listed as among the top three preventable heath problems encountered by Australia, according to a study conducted by the National Preventative Health Strategy of the Australian Government. The Australian government tries to addresses this challenge by attempting to support innovation which aids in building evidence base, which allows the development of large scale treatments.
It has been suggested by the Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society’s preliminary research that consumption of added sugars is crossing the boundary of recommended levels for over 50 percent of young Australians. There has been a renewed concern in how foods high in added sugar have an impact on human health, particularly pertaining to obesity and weight gain. In Australia, studies in this area are apparently obstructed since the food composition databases, at present, fail to distinguish between total and added sugars.
In contrast, some experts feel that no actual nutritional difference is seen amongst “added” sugars and “naturally occurring” sugars. Nevertheless, since Australians consume just a minor ratio of their total sugar consumption as table sugar, it must be easy to examine the way in which high-sugar content foods impact the overall energy and nutrient consumptions of individuals.
The research study by the Australia and New Zealand Obesity Society was conducted to help separate out added sugar from naturally- occurring sugar in food products used up in Australia. The findings of this study clearly state that presently, the diets of Australian children and youth remain high in added sugar. With age, this intake increases and reaches an average level of nearly 90g or 22 teaspoons of added sugar in teenagers (Australasian Science, 2013). This comprises of a whopping 13 per cent of their total sugar consumption from added sugars, which crosses the level recommended by WHO of 10 per cent or less of energy from added sugar.
Further research conducted in line with these preliminary examinations will aid in defining where to apply efforts for reducing the unwanted calorie consumption of Australian children and youth and ways of educating parents to adhere to such changes.
Any type of added sugar is unwanted and extra calories when people are obese and overweight. In it understood that sugar-sweetened soft drinks and sodas are still a hindrance in the healthy growth of an individual and this problem needs to be dramatically decreased since they have no additional nutrients except for unnecessary calories.
Health advocacy groups have suggested the need to be able to differentiate added sugar and natural sugar in foods, and Australian citizens must restrict their intake on added sugar to less than 10 per cent of their total kilo joule consumption.
Findings of the study performed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) last year illustrate that almost 42 percent of males and 28 percent of females were evaluated as being overweight, while 28 percent of males and females respectively were examined as being overweight. Notably, not just have the rates of obesity of Australian citizens raised more rapidly than in any other OECD nations but also the ratio of overweight and obese Australian adults is anticipated to remain on a high range throughout the coming decade (US FDA, 2011). In comparison to other Western nations, this increasing trend of over-the bar intake of sugar indicates a grave threat to both the health as well as the economy of Australia. Should the estimations pertaining to overweight and obesity be precise, “it is most likely that Type 2 diabetes will grow to become the leading cause of disease burden for males and the second leading cause for females by 2023” (National Preventative Health Taskforce, 2009). In addition to this, a second major concern is the ever increasing ratio of children and young Australians who are categorized as obese or overweight. Indeed, overweight and obesity detected in children tend to heighten the risk of long term conditions like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, heart disease, and heart attacks/ stroke (FDA, 2011). Most recent and state-of-the-art interventions for treating overweight and obesity issues lack in efficiency and the elimination or prevention of excessive weight gain is advisable.
“As the primary drivers of excess weight gain and the relative importance of various dietary factors in obesity remain contentious, high consumption of refined carbohydrate, particularly sugar, has been identified as a possible contributory factor”. Numerous research studies have highlighted the link between high intake of sugar (mostly added) and the risk of massive weight gain and poor health consequences (Tandel, 2011). The present body of evidence describes the potential relationships between chronic and high sugar intake and increased danger of poor health and unhealthy lifestyle.
Furthermore, the authors Barclay and Brand-Miller received annual evident consumption data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in order to produce a time series approximation of sugar intake between 1980 and 2003. It was this estimate that revealed a significant drop in intake of sugars in Australia over these years. “Conventionally, sugar supply values estimations have been found based on the size of the domestic sugar crop minus sugar exports, as Australia has imported very little raw sugar until five years ago, when the value of imports rose dramatically”. It was also revealed form this study that within a year, i.e. from 2008 to 2009, the overall imports elevated to a whopping to more than $33 m, which is almost 280% of the current import business. Nonetheless, imports of processed foods within Australia have increased today, and it is unclear whether or not Barclay and Brand-Miller have considered this in their calculations.
According to the results of a renowned research study, data was obtained from nutrition questionnaires and industry sales data suggesting a growth in sugar intake from the mid-80s to the 1990s, even though this estimation might have been at its highest value by 2005 and a minor drop in sugar intake might have been detected since then. These findings have been in consistency with recently published industry data that suggest a recent modest reduction in per capita sugar intake. But, between 1985 and 1995, the dominance of obesity and overweight rose remarkably in Australian adults and children and it is the ecological correlation between sugar intake and the predominance of obesity and weight gain on which the question of the existence of an Australian paradox greatly depends.
Another renowned study conducted by Simone et, al. (2003) reveals that the increasing exposure of food advertising tends to influence product ratings, increase the desire to consume publicized food products, and enhance perceptions of their social acceptability. The literature demands substantial improvements to be made to the present obesogenic environment after which in turn urges the need to recognize the ability of food advertising to raise product preferences and perceptions of acceptability at a population level.
Future research must focus particularly on parents, who play the key roles in determining children’s food choices and diets, which will in turn aim to better understand the ways in which advertising can normalize optimal food intake patterns amongst those who are primary caretakers of children.
Australian Dietary Guidelines, released in 2003, for both children as well as adults urge Australians to consume a moderate amount of sugar or food products that contain added sugar. However, irrespective of the prominence of sugar, the aforesaid guideline contains very little body of knowledge concerning the quantity of refined sugar to be consumed by Australians, particularly children.
Research suggests that while calculating the consumption of refined sugar, dietary regulations need to focus on terminology, since it defines the purpose of such estimations. For instance, Somerset (2003) pointed out in his paper two dietary items, namely ‘added refined sugar’ and ‘discretionary sugars’. The former can be defined as ‘sugars that are added to drinks and food in domestic or commercial food preparations’, which includes glucose, lactose, sucrose, fructose and maltose.
The latter can be defined as ‘all refined sugars added to breakfast cereals or beverages at the table’.
‘Free sugars’ is a third term mentioned in the latest WHO (World Health Organization)-published report. Free sugars is concerned with all monosaccharides and disaccharides that are added to food products by the cook, consumer or manufacturer, together with sugars occurring naturally in fruit juices, syrups and honey.
Further in this direction, a study conducted by Walker et. al (2007), indicated that an Australian consumer who enters a large urbanite supermarket to choose a beverage or snack, is flooded with a wide array of food products. Although the authors include only one store in their study, they observe that there is substantial uniformity between stores in Australia because only two supermarket chains are dominant in the country. Their nutrient content chart clearly depicts the product diversity which is not nutritionally good for adults and children, but is simply product diversity to increase sales. With this overwhelming food product variety, how the consumer will select ‘healthy’ and ‘nutritious‘drinks and snacks, remains an unanswered question.
Some feel that fast food and excessive sugar intake in general cannot be regulated at this point in time since the obesity has already increased at an alarming rate, since children are eating what their parents eat. Fast food consumption is a lifestyle choice instilled by parents and caretakers on their children. Drastic measures need to be taken by the government before it becomes too late.
The WHO recommends added and refined sugars make up to a maximum of 10 % of an average person’s daily food intake.
If added sugars consumptions are controlled and thereby reduced, population groups or individual persons consuming too much sugar will automatically make healthier food choices and improve diet quality.
Secondly, if population groups or individual persons curb the overall intake of added or refined sugars, their total energy consumption will be dropped automatically. Findings of a study reveal that the techniques and foods consumers select in place of added sugars may or may not result in total energy reduction; in contrary to the observations seen when lower-fat food choices were examined.
The same research study revealed that if population groups or individual persons control the excessive intake of added sugars, a reduction in body weight will be observed. This observation closely relates to weight gain problems in adults and teenagers. But, even by using palatable lower-fat foods in place of full-fat foods fails to reduce body weight.
References:
Australasian Science, (2013). Too Much Added Sugar for Young Australians. Control Publications. Retrieved from http://www.australasianscience.com.au/article/issue-december-2012/too-much-added-sugar-young-australians.html.
FDA. (2011). FDA's response to European Aspartame Study. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01369.html .
National Preventative Health Taskforce. Australia: the Healthiest Country by 2020. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia; 2009.
Pettigrew, S., Tarabashkina, L., Roberts, M., Quester, P., Chapman, K., & Miller, C. (in press). The effects of television and internet food advertising on parents and children. Public Health and Nutrition. doi: 10.1017/S1368980013001067.
Rangan, A.M., Randall, D., Hector, D.J., Gill, T.P., & Webb, K.L. (2008). Consumption of ‘extra’ foods by Australian children: Types, quantities and contribution to energy and nutrient intakes. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 62, 356-364. doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602720
Somerset, S.M. (2003). Refined sugar intake in Australian children. Public Health Nutrition, 6(8), 809-813. doi: 10.1079/PHN2003501.
Tandel, K. (2011).Journal of Pharmacol Pharmacother. 2(4). pp 236–243. doi: 10.4103/0976-500X.85936
US FDA Website Guidance Documents, (2011). Retrieved from http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/grasguid.html#Q1 .
Walker, K.Z., Woods, J.L., Rickard, C.A., & Wong, C.K. (2008). Product variety in Australian snacks and drinks: How can the consumer make a healthy choice? Public Health Nutrition, 11(10), 1046-1053. doi 10.1017/S1368980007001462
Zimmerman, F.J. (2011). Using marketing muscle to sell fat: The rise of obesity in the modern economy. Annual Review of Public Health, 32, 285-306. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-090810-182502
