Nutritionist refuses to rule out ban on sugary drinks in schools
THERE ARE very few beverages, other than water and plain milk, that the industry manufactures to help with schools becoming compliant with the Ministry of Health & Wellness’ Interim Guidelines for Beverages in Schools, according to Dr Suzzane Soares-Wynter, clinical nutritionist at the Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR).
In 2019, the guidelines were put in place to help reduce students’ consumption of sugary beverages, including fruit drinks, energy drinks and sweetened water in light of alarming statistics of Jamaicans suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
The sugar limit then was six grams per 100 millilitres.
As of January 2023, the limit was moved to a maximum of 2.5 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres.
Soares-Wynter, who was responding to questions posed by The Gleaner during the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network’s (JYAN) Editors’ Forum on Healthy Food Policies, further stated that it would be a great challenge for the Government to implement a ban on the sale of sugary drinks altogether.
“I think we need to just understand that added sugar has no benefit to the diet and it is causing more harm to our children. So, having an outright ban, yes, I don’t think it’s something that we should dismiss completely,” she said.
In 2022, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton made it clear that schools that were found to be non-compliant with the guidelines would not face any sanctions. He further stated that the Government had no intention of placing a ban on high sugar drinks being manufactured.
“It’s not everything that you can legislate. Sometimes you have to appeal to people’s moral compass,” he said at the time.
The health ministry has been pushing for manufacturers to consider a reformulation of their products so that they will be less harmful to children.
CALLS FOR MORE OPTIONS
Soares-Wynter shared this view, adding that it was essential for consumers to have more options for those who wish to eat healthy products, but noted that this would come with great pushback from the industry whose primary objective was to make a profit.
“What we are asking, is that, because none of the beverages or very few of our existing beverages actually provide us with an option, the reality is that we really just want to know that can the consumers have another option related to healthy beverages and not just ... drinking water,” she added.
According to the 2019 findings of the Jamaica-Barbados (JAMBAR) Kids Study, 86 per cent of Jamaican children aged eight-12 years consumed excess sugar on a daily and less than seven per cent of them were consuming healthier options such as 100 per cent juice.
In her presentation ‘Addressing NonCommunicable Diseases in Jamaican Children and Adolescents: The Role of Healthy Food Policy’, Soares-Wynter reported that the three major factors affecting the nation’s youth were obesity, being overweight and NCDs. She further highlighted that the diets of children primarily consisted of an unhealthy supply and heavy reliance on ultra-processed food products – the leading contributor to obesity and NCDs.
“There are beverages out there with 24 teaspoons of sugar in this amount,” she told The Gleaner, while holding a 500 millilitres water bottle.
The World Health Organization’s recommended maximum sugar intake is that children should be consuming no more than six teaspoons of sugar and adults between nine and 12.
“So already, just having one drink for most of us will take us over that threshold,” she continued. “Even though I focused on beverages, we have food products – many of our food products also have sugar. I know we’ve seen many breads that have up to one and a half teaspoons of sugar per slice and not to mention the increase in bakery products – we’ve seen a lot of cakes, cookies, muffins on the market which are also on the market,” Soares-Wynter added.
The clinical nutritionist also indicated that Caribbean nationals were among the highest consumers of sweetened drinks globally and that Jamaican children were at a 55 per cent risk of obesity by consuming one sugary drink each day.