|
Item #11
Global
Report Urges Less Sugar to Stem the Epidemic of Obesity-Linked
Diseases
People
should get no more than 10 percent of their calories from sugar.
That
from experts says in a major new report last week on how to stem the
global epidemic of obesity-linked diseases.
The
study is the most significant in more than a decade on what the world
should be doing about its diet. Although concerns about sugar intake
are not new, very few experts have recommended a specific limit.
The
food industry immediately decried the document, insisting more
exercise is the key to ending obesity. The report was commissioned by
two U.N. agencies, the World Health Organization and the Food and
Agriculture Organization, and compiled by a panel of 30 international
experts.
The
experts say heart disease, diabetes and other diseases that can be
caused by poor diet and lack of exercise are no longer just the
preserve of the Western world.
The
report underlines what doctors have been saying for years - that along
with regular exercise, a diet low in fatty, sugary and salty food is
key to staying healthy.
The
experts recommend one hour of daily exercise, double the amount
recommended by the U.S. government but the same as that endorsed by
other establishments.
And
their recommendations on how much fat, grains, protein, salt and
fruits and vegetables people should eat also were in line with
prevailing opinion.
But
when it came to sugar, their advice was some of the boldest yet.
The
experts said people should restrict their consumption of added sugar -
meaning sugar not naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices
- to below 10 percent of calories.
In
the United States, which leads the world in obesity, the government's
Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise only that sugar should be used
in moderation. The Institute of Medicine, part of the U.S. National
Academy of Sciences, recommended in September that sugar could make up
to 25 percent of calories.
"There
are very few international recommendations on sugar. There are
countries that are trying to develop recommendations on sugar, but
every time they introduce them, the pressure from industry-led groups
is very high," said Derek Yach, chief of non-communicable
diseases at the World Health Organization.
Philip
James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force and one of the
scientists on the panel, said the report presents the food industry
with one of its biggest challenges.
"Despite
all the attempts so far to increase the provision of healthier choices
over the last 10 or more years, obesity rates have accelerated,"
he said. "The food industry must now sit down with WHO and others
to work out how to seriously address this issue and become part of the
solution rather than remaining part of the problem."
Rapid
changes in diets and lifestyles resulting from industrialization,
urbanization, economic development and global food trade have
accelerated during the last decade, the report said.
That
has meant improved standards of living in poorer countries, but also
has led to inappropriate shifts in eating and exercise patterns and a
corresponding increase in diet-related chronic diseases, the experts
found.
Scientists
predict that heart disease will be the leading cause of death in
developing countries by the end of the decade. Obesity rates are also
increasing more rapidly in developing countries than in rich nations,
and two-thirds of the people with type 2 diabetes - the type related
to bad eating and exercise habits - live in the developing world.
================================
DO
YOU KNOW
Indirect
costs resulting from lost workdays, restricted activity days,
mortality and permanent disabilities due to diabetes totaled $39.8
billion. Item
Cost
of Diabetes
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
