Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Medindia

Many Oz Kids Get Over 10% of Daily Energy Requirement from Added Sugar

by Kathy Jones on Oct 19 2012 5:58 PM

 Many Oz Kids Get Over 10% of Daily Energy Requirement from Added Sugar
A new study says that three in five Australian children are getting more than 10 percent of their daily energy requirement from added sugar; well above the maximum limit recommended by the World Health Organization.
Researchers led by Dr Jimmy Louie, from the University of Wollongong, used data from the 2007 Australian National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey to analyze the dietary habits of children.

They found that while added sugar provided 9 percent of the daily energy requirement among two and three year old kids, it rose to more than 13 percent among children between 9 and 16 years of age.

“We need to find ways of reducing children's total calorie intake without compromising their nutrition. High sugar foods, particularly those that provide most of that sugar in the diet, are an appropriate target to reduce calories. If a parent knew (a product) was high in added sugars, then they'd know that this isn't the fact it's got fruit, or milk or something else in it, it's because it's got added cane sugar”, Sydney University associate professor Timothy Gill, who supervised the study, said.

Source-Medindia


Advertisement