Kids guzzle 600k f izzy drinks daily
SCOTTISH children consume almost 4.4million soft drinks a week – the equivalent of more than 600,000 a day.
The shocking figures, produced by Cancer Research UK, sparked calls yesterday for ministers to crack down on supermarket multi-buy deals on fizzy drinks.
Experts say the number of youngsters gorging themselves on sugary drinks, which are often sold as part of bulk buy deals, is storing up major health problems for the future.
The figures mean the average Scottish child is consuming around five to six sugary drinks a week.
Professor Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK’s prevention expert, said getting tough on multi-buys would help by ‘deterring families from stocking up on drinks that are doing so much damage to our diets’.
The charity calculated the number of soft drinks – including fizzy drinks, energy drinks and diluting juice with added sugar – that youngsters aged two to 15 were consuming.
Using data from the 2015-2017 Scottish Health Survey, it estimates children across the country drank 627,288 of these a day – amounting to 4,391,015 a week.
The figures did not include diet drinks, low calorie or no added sugar drinks, or fresh fruit juices.
Official NHS figures for the school year 2016-17 found almost a quarter of pupils in P1 were either overweight or obese. While the UK Government has introduced a so-called ‘sugar tax’ on soft drinks, Professor Bauld insisted more could be done.
She said: ‘It’s scandalous that sugary drinks are now a routine part of what children are consuming daily.
‘The Scottish Government must take action by introducing laws to
‘Doing so much damage to diets’
restrict the multi-buy offers on junk food and sugary drinks.’
But Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said it was not just a matter of limiting cheap deals but also encouraging physical activity at schools. He said: ‘We need to see action to address the environment which has developed in Scotland and that must include educating kids about having healthy habits.
‘The SNP has to ensure that kids at school are encouraged to drink water and they must have access to sports facilities.’
The call was backed by workers at the Fet-Lor Youth Club in Edinburgh which has banned junk food and high-sugar drinks from its tuck shop. Manager Amy Henderson said: ‘Multi-buy offers on junk food and sugary drinks are really unhelpful and, by their very nature, they’re tempting us all to buy them.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are consulting on measures to tackle our nation’s damaging relationship with junk food, such as sugary drinks. This includes restricting multi-buys that encourage their overconsumption.’