Dental Health Foundation Welcomes Minister for Health Proposal of Sugar Tax
24 Nov 2011
The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased with alarming speed over the past twenty years. It has recently been described by the World Health Organisation as a 'global epidemic'. In the year 2000 more than 300 million people worldwide were obese and it is now projected that by 2025 up to half the population of the United States will be obese if current trends are maintained. The disease is now a major public health problem throughout Europe.
The World Health Organisation has serious concerns over the high and increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks by children in many countries. Sugar-sweetened carbonated drinks seem to be a contributory factor to the obesity epidemic. Children who drink one regular carbonated drink a day have an average 10% more total energy than non-consumers. It has been estimated that each additional can or glass of sugar-sweetened drink that children consume every day increases the risk of becoming obese by 60%. Most of the research relates to carbonated drinks but many fruit drinks and cordials are equally energy-dense and may promote weight gain if consumed in large quantities. In company with their adult counterparts Irish children are also consuming large amounts of energy dense foods outside the home. A recent survey revealed that slightly over half of these children ate sweets at least once a day and roughly a third of them had fizzy drinks and crisps with the same regularity (The Report of the National Taskforce on Obesity 2005).
Children in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) have amongst the highest frequency of consumption of foods and drinks sweetened with sugar when compared with 34 other countries (WHO). The Irish Health Behaviour in School aged Children (HBSC) Study (2006) showed that overall, 26% of children reported drinking soft drinks on a daily basis.
Almost 1/3 (31%) of 5 year olds consume sweet food or drinks between meals twice a day (Oral health of 5-year-old children in the northeast 2002). Sugars between meals are very damaging to teeth, so these trends are worrying.
'Dental Caries is caused by the action of organic acids on the enamel surface of the teeth. The acid is produced when sugars, mainly sucrose in foods and drinks, metabolises with bacteria present in dental plaque.' (National University of Ireland, Galway and the Dental Health Foundation, 2010).
The UK national dental health survey suggested that dental erosion is common in young adolescents and assumed that it was caused predominantly by acidic drinks (Moazzez et al 2000)
Consumption of cola carbonated drinks (but not other carbonated soft drinks) is also associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) as outlined in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study 2006. Cola drinks were associated with significant lower BMD at each hip site in women. This is of considerable public health importance as BMD is strongly linked with fracture risk and also because cola is a popular beverage.
The available evidence shows that oral diseases share important common risk factors with the four leading chronic diseases - cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes - including unhealthy diet, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption. Therefore good oral health is of vital importance to the general health of everyone in Ireland. Consequently, oral health promotion and preventive measures are important approaches to improving overall health and reducing costs.
The feasibility of a "sugar tax on sugar sweetened drinks" was considered by a Department of Health special action group on obesity in response to rising levels in Ireland which reflect the global epidemic (Irish Times 18th October 2011).
Minister for Health James Reilly has announced that the Cabinet will be asked to approve a "sugar tax" on sweetened drinks that could raise up to €50 million a year.
The Minister told the Seanad of his plans yesterday pointing out the contribution that sweetened drinks were making to rising levels of obesity in Ireland (Irish Times, 24th November 2011)
The Dental Health Foundation welcomes this development.
