Extra 10p deters diners from sugary drinks

RESTAURANT-GOERS ARE less likely to buy sugary soft drinks if they cost about 10p more, a new study suggests.

The introduction of a 10p levy on sugar-sweetened drinks across Jamie Oliver’s restaurant chain Jamie’s Italian has been linked to a fall in sales of those beverages, research found. The increase led to a fall in sales of up to 11 per cent, according to the study published in the Journal

of Epidemiology and Community

Health. In 2015, Jamie’s Italian added a 10p levy to non-alcoholic sugar-sweetened beverages, with proceeds going to a children’s health fund which offered grants for child health initiatives.

The levy was introduced with a reorganisation of the menu in which drinks were put into two sections – sugar-sweetened drinks or other beverages such as juice, bottled water and diet cola.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Cambridge decided to take advantage of the “natural experiment” to assess whether the introduction of the levy and reorganisation of the menu had an impact on sales.

Steven Cummins, professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “Our study showed that a combination of the levy, menu changes and clearly explaining to customers why it was introduced and that the proceeds would go directly to a worthy cause, looks to have had a relatively large effect on consumer behaviour given the small size of the levy.”

A levy of 18p on drinks with 5g of sugar per 100ml and 24p on those with over 8g per 100ml will be introduced next year.

GPS SHOULD send patients who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes to Weight Watchers, a new study suggests.

Patients with so-called pre-diabetes – where their blood sugar levels are above the normal range, but not high enough to be diagnosed as having the condition – could benefit from being referred to the weight management programme, experts found.

Researchers found “considerable reductions” in diabetes risk as well as an average weight loss of 10kg (22lbs) after a year.

The new study, published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research and

Care, saw participants recruited through 14 GP practices in the London borough of Bromley.

Patients with a body mass index score (BMI) of over 30 – signifying that they are clinically obese – who had non-diabetic hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, were invited to take part.

They were offered a book in for a diabetes prevention programme with Weight Watchers which included a 90-minute “activation session” followed by 48 weekly group meetings.

Of the 117 patients who took part in the study, 38 per cent had returned to normal blood sugar levels after a year.

A further 15 per cent had reduced their risk of type 2 diabetes by reducing their blood glucose.

Just three per cent had gone on to develop the condition.

At 12 months, 54 per cent of patients achieved a greater than a seven per cent reduction in body weight, the researchers from Weight Watchers, the University of Westminster and Bromley Council found. The mean weight loss was 10kg (22lbs).

The authors concluded: “A UK primary care referral route was successful in referring patients to a diabetes prevention programme and partnering with a commercial weight management diabetes prevention programme translated into considerable reductions in diabetes risk.”

They wrote that type 2 diabetes is a “significant public health challenge”.

About nine in 10 people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes – which is linked to an unhealthy lifestyle. Since 1996, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK has increased from 1.4 to 2.9 million.