British Liver Trust support new Change4Life campaign

Posted on: 3rd January 2019

A new campaign from Public Health England (PHE) is helping parents in the UK to “Make a swap when you next shop" to halve their children's sugar intake from some everyday food and drinks.

Children have already exceeded the maximum recommended sugar intake for an 18 year old by the time they reach their tenth birthday, according to Public Health England (PHE). This is based on their total sugar consumption from the age of two.

This figure comes as a new Change4Life campaign launches today, supporting families in Surrey to cut back on sugar and to help tackle growing rates of childhood obesity.

Vanessa Hebditch, Director of Communications and Policy, at the British Liver Trust said: “We fully support this campaign by Change4Life to help parents reduce the amount of sugar their children consume.  We know that having a balanced, healthy diet reduces the chance of an individual becoming overweight and also improves liver health.

"Research has suggested that as many as one in eight middle-aged adults in the UK now have NASH, the more serious form of fatty liver disease caused by being overweight. Overweight children are 5 times more likely to be overweight as adults. So, any campaign that could lead to a reduction in childhood obesity could have a big impact on liver disease rates in the future."

Children are consuming around 8 excess sugar cubes each day, equivalent to around 2,800 excess sugar cubes per year.

Change4Life is encouraging parents to "Make a swap when you next shop". Making simple everyday swaps can reduce children's sugar intake from some products (yoghurts, drinks and breakfast cereals) by half – while giving them healthier versions of the foods and drinks they enjoy.

Find out more here: https://www.nhs.uk/change4life/food-facts/sugar/sugar-swaps-for-kids