Adults and children should reduce their daily free sugar – glucose, fructose, sucrose and table sugar – intake to less than 10% of their total energy intake, according to a new guideline from the World Health Organisation (WHO). Medical News Today reports that the WHO explains that much of the sugar consumed these days is concealed within processed foods that are not necessarily perceived as "sweets." It provides the example of 1 tablespoon of ketchup containing around 4g of free sugars, while a can of soda contains up to 40g of free sugars.
The WHO also found that free sugar intake varies across global regions. For example, while free sugar intake accounts for about 7-8% of total energy intake in Hungary and Norway, it accounts for nearly 25% of total energy intake in Portugal. Also, within countries, free sugar intake varies between urban and rural populations. In South Africa, the WHO report notes, free sugar intake accounts for 7.5% of total energy intake among rural communities, but is higher within the urban population at 10.3%
"We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay," says Dr Francesco Branca, director of WHO's department of nutrition for health and development. "Making policy changes to support this will be key if countries are to live up to their commitments to reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases," Branca adds.
However, the new guideline does not refer to the sugars found in fresh fruits, vegetables and milk, as there is no reported evidence finding an association between adverse effects and consumption of these sugars. The new WHO guideline is "based on analysis of the latest scientific evidence," according to the organisation.
This evidence – rated by the organisation as "strong," and therefore appropriate for adopting as policy – shows that adults who consume lower amounts of free sugars have lower body weight and that increasing the amount of sugars in the diet is linked with weight increase.
In addition, children with the highest intakes of sugary drinks are more at risk of obesity than children with low intake of these drinks. When more than 10% of total energy intake is derived from free sugars, there is also an associated higher risk of tooth decay.
However, there have been few studies on the subject undertaken among populations with low intakes of sugar. As such, within WHO's evidence-based guidance system, a further reduction to less than 5% of total energy intake is classed as a "conditional recommendation." Conditional recommendations for public health issues are issued by the organisation when the quality of evidence may not be strong enough.
[link url="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290425.php"]Full Medical News Today report[/link]
[link url="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/149782/1/9789241549028_eng.pdf"]WHO guidelines[/link]