Sinead Moriarty: Tax on sugar is welcome move

FOR parents fighting against their kids consuming cheap cans of fizzy drinks, the news of a sugar tax announced by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe was warmly received. It is a welcome step in the war against obesity. Figures just released reveal that the number of obese children and adolescents worldwide has jumped tenfold in the past 40 years. It is chilling to think that in just 40 years we have gone from 11 million obese children and adolescents worldwide to more than 120 million.

During his Budget speech, Mr Donohoe announced that there would be a tax of 30 cent per litre on drinks with more than eight grams of sugar per 100 millilitres, along with a reduced rate of 20 cent per litre on drinks with between five and eight grams of sugar per 100 millilitres.

Every time you go into a garage or supermarket you are confronted with shelves heaving with discounted sugary drinks. Kids are naturally drawn towards the sugar high they get from these drinks and unaware, or uninterested, in the warnings of parents and health professionals on the danger of tooth decay and obesity.

A single can of a sugary drink contains on average 40 grams of free sugars, which is the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of table sugar. Growing kids can knock back three cans in a row without even blinking.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that to prevent tooth decay and obesity, children need to reduce their intake of free sugars to less than 10pc per day and ideally down to 5pc.

According to the Irish Heart Foundation, Ireland is on its way to being Europe’s most obese nation by 2030, with one-in-four schoolchildren currently overweight or obese. It has therefore welcomed the introduction of the sugar tax and called it, “a landmark day in the fight against obesity”.

Head of Advocacy Chris Macey said: “The introduction of a sugar-sweetened drinks levy is probably the single most important action Government can take to tackle Ireland’s obesity crisis.”

Commenting on the new worldwide numbers of obese children and adolescents, researchers at Imperial College London and the WHO are calling for better nutrition at home and at school, and more physical exercise to prevent a generation from becoming adults at greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancers due to excessive weight.

As well as taxes on sugar, they are also calling for clear food labels on salt, sugar and fat content to help consumers make healthy choices.

From 2011 to 2030, is it estimated that the losses in gross domestic product worldwide due to diabetes, will total $1.7tn (€1.4tn). This includes $900bn (€760bn) in high-income countries and $800bn

(€675bn) in low and middle-income countries.

By taxing sugary drinks, countries can save billions in healthcare costs. In Ireland, it is estimated that the tax will raise

€40m next year.

The revenue generated from the tax can be spent on improving our failing healthcare system. It’s a win-win situation.

How are the drinks companies reacting? Soft drinks manufacturer Britvic Ireland said it is “disappointed that the soft drinks sector has been arbitrarily singled out”.

Britvic says: “Nearly 75pc of Britvic Ireland products are already

Revenue generated from the tax can be spent on improving our failing healthcare system

low or no sugar, and not subject to the tax, a journey that began in earnest long before talk of a sugar tax.”

WILL the sugar tax work? Will we see a reduction in tooth decay, obesity and diabetes in our young people?

Hungary’s tax, which came into effect in September 2011, has seen 22pc of people reduce energy drink consumption and 19pc of people reduce their intake of sugary-sweetened soft drinks.

Mexico, which has one of the world’s highest rates of obesity, has also introduced a sugar tax. Mexicans get one-fifth of their calories from sugary drinks, and

14pc of the population has diabetes. The tax has been a big success, with a 5.5pc drop in sugary drink purchases in the first year and a

9.7pc decline in the second year. The sugar tax in Mexico is on course to prevent diabetes, heart attacks and strokes in more than

200,000 adults and to save nearly

$1bn in healthcare costs over the next decade.

This means that nearly 8pc of boys and nearly 6pc of girls worldwide are now obese.

We desperately need sugar taxes and better nutrition at home and at school. We need our young people to get up off the couch and engage in more physical exercise.

If current trends continue, in

2022 there will be more obese children and teenagers worldwide than underweight ones.

Look at what taxing tobacco did to smoking.

Big changes can be made but we need the government to continue taxing sugar and putting pressure on drinks companies to reduce sugar content.

We also need to continue to educate children, and their parents, on the dangers of too much sugar.

If we don’t act now our children will pay dearly in the future.