Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of the National Health Service (NHS) England, says children should not have frizzy drinks. The government has issued a new health advice to cut sugar in take by half. And it suggests doing this by having supermarkets sell junk food and beverages at higher prices. The rationale being if you buy less, because of the steep price, you eat less.
Earlier, the British Medical Association, in their attempt to curb obesity among children has called for a 20% levy on sugar products, otherwise known as the sugar law. Government, however, does not agree.
Stevens is achieving its purpose in a round-about way. In addition to reducing obesity, he tells retailers they are to use their increased sales to pay for higher wages. This comes in the light of recent mandate increasing the rate of working personnel to 7.20 GBP/hour by April next year. This has alarmed businessmen, but Stevens is giving them a concrete suggestion on how to achieve this.
Meanwhile, the new health guideline is to drink a maximum of only 150ml of juice in a day. Frizzy drinks are just plain sugar. Dry to avoid sweetened juices. Go as natural as you can get, like squeezing your own lemon juice. Experts agree that intake of excessive sugar results to obesity, which can further result to diabetes, cancer and a whole range of diseases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that if the eating habits of the English people are uncurbed, in 15 years time, 74% of the men and 64% of the women will be obese. Overweight is having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of between 25 - 29.9. If you go beyond that, then you are obese. The BMI is measured by weight by kilograms, divided by height in meters squared. In the UK, in a study conducted in 2013, the average BMI of the men is 27, while the women get 26.9. The numbers mean most people in the UK are overweight.
