Time for a pudding tax?

It is time to introduce the so-called ‘pudding tax’ to tackle our community’s growing obesity crisis?

That’s the question we pose today after it was revealed that children have exceeded the maximum recommended sugar intake for an 18-year-old, by the time they are 10 years old.

And, though it pains us to say this, if that’s the national figure you can be sure the situation is worse among Sunderland children. Just 24 months ago we reported how more than 35% of children in Sunderland are overweight by the time they reach Year 6. It was one of the worst statistics in the country.

While we are the last to call for an increase in taxation, there is a good argument to introduce it in this case.

Sometimes education isn’t enough. Government intervention is sometimes the best way forward.

We saw it with smoking in pubs and restaurants. Polite requests and warnings about the dangers of passive smoking were acknowledged, but duly ignored. Only the smoking ban had the desired effect.

The best example though has to be the charge on plastic bags. Everyone acknowledged the problem of excessive plastic bag use, but few took action.

A 5p charge in put into force and all of a sudden, millions of bags are taken out of circulation.

If a similar principle was applied to the companies producing sugar laden sweet goods, it could well produce similar results.

Reduce sugar and you must surely reduce obesity in children.

We’re not ones for promoting taxation, but if it reduces the amount of unhealthy foods in shops and improves our kids’ diets, well that would be the icing on the cake - or not, as the case might be.