Revenue from sugar tax should go to farmers and food campaigns

Marco Gori says there is a better use for the money in tackling obesity than giving it to school sports

We all seem to love sugar. It can be found in everything we eat. This is worrisome because a high consumption of sugar is linked to obesity, which is associated with a range of health conditions, including type 2 diabetes.

We are periodically reminded by scientists, researchers and lawmakers that if something is not done, the NHS will go bankrupt. Treating type 2 diabetes and its complications costs the NHS around £9bn per year.

The real amount of related costs that a high sugar diet is inflicting upon the NHS and the economy, is unknown. What is clear, however, is that in Britain we consume more than the daily recommended amount: no more than five per cent of our total dietary energy should come from added sugar. Most people consume at least twice that.

We know too that the obesity rate in the UK is growing. A United Nations report published in 2013 found that 24.9 per cent of British people were obese. Last March, the report Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet - England, 2016, published by NHS Digital, stated that “if current trends persist, one in three people will be obese by 2034”.

According to the Scottish Health Survey, in 2015, 65 per cent of adults aged 16 and over were overweight, including 29 per cent who were classed as obese.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has confirmed a tax on sugary drinks in 2018, with the main goal of fighting child obesity. The UK is not the first country to introduce what many