Low-sugar drinks alone won’t help if not combined with other diet choices: Experts
SINGAPORE — There are many factors affecting an individual’s sugar intake, and it would be hard to assess the impact of the move to get major beverage companies to produce low-sugar drinks, doctors said.
SINGAPORE — There are many factors affecting an individual’s sugar intake, and it would be hard to assess the impact of the move to get major beverage companies to produce low-sugar drinks, doctors said.
The Ministry of Health said yesterday that seven beverage producers approached by the Government, which together form 70 per cent of the market here for pre-packaged sweetened drinks, have pledged to cut the amount of sugar in their products to 12 per cent or lower by 2020.
Backing this campaign to reduce sugar consumption in the fight against diabetes, parents are also urging schools to do more to limit their children’s access to sugared drinks and products in canteens.
As it stands now, only a handful of beverages by the major soft drinks producers exceed the 12-per-cent sugar limit, they told TODAY.
On the Government’s plan for drinks companies, Dr Goh Kian Peng, a senior consultant at the Saint-Julien Clinic for Diabetes and Endocrinology in Mount Alvernia Hospital, said the authorities need to be very clear that this is “part of an overall message” appealing to people to cut down extra sugar in their diet “as far as possible”.
For instance, if an individual’s carbohydrate load continues to come from unhealthy sources, such as potato chips, the 12 per cent reduction in sugar content for packaged drinks may not be significant.
Family physician Kelvin Goh from Northeast Medical Group said this initiative would have a bigger impact on those who normally consume certain packaged drinks and need some help in cutting down sugar in their diet.
Those who are disciplined would already be avoiding sweetened drinks, while those who are not bothered with their weight would reach for other sugar-rich alternatives, he added.
Family physician Jonathan Pang, from Everhealth Family Clinic and Surgery, is not sure if there are existing studies on the specific amount of sugar that a packaged drink should contain in order to lower a consumer’s risk to diabetes.
And if most of the products already fall below that sugar level, he suggested that the authorities could consider lowering the cap further.
Madam Leraine Leow, 38, a mother of two boys aged 10 and 12, said her sons consume sugared drinks such as green tea and chocolate drink Milo at school about twice to thrice a week. They are not allowed to have these when they are with her, and the family does not stock sweetened drinks at home.
Mdm Leow, a primary school teacher, would like schools to limit the sale of such beverages to students.
Mdm Nurshahida Mohd Rashid, 37, principal of an enrichment centre, agreed that parents would have greater peace of mind if schools do that.
Young children would not be able to differentiate which drinks are healthier, Mdm Leow said. “Even if they can, they will still drink the (sugared) drinks.”
Under the Healthy Meals in Schools Programme, canteen vendors at participating schools get to sell commercially prepared sweetened drinks that contain 6g or less sugar per 100ml of drink. Homemade drinks and desserts cannot contain sweetened ingredients such as canned fruit soaked in syrup, for instance.
Admiralty Primary School, for example, has stopped the sales of sugared drinks — except for coffee, tea and Milo — since 2015. Vice-principal Tan Pin Pin said that this was primarily to support the authorities’ campaigns to cut sugar intake.
“The school encourages our students to cultivate the habit of drinking (plain) water by restricting what is sold in our canteen,” she added.
At the end of 2015, 85 per cent of the 670 parents surveyed by the school said that their children were drinking more water than sweetened drinks.