New Change4Life Campaign Encourages Families to Make Sugar Swaps

Sugar Swaps, a new Change4Life campaign has been launched by Public Health England and backed by Hertfordshire County Council.

The campaign is designed to encourage parents to cut down the amount of sugar their children consume by making one or more simple swaps.

The campaign launches following a new survey amongst Netmums users who were polled on their views on sugar. The results highlight that nearly half (47%) of mums surveyed think their family has too much sugar in their diets and two thirds of mums (67%) are worried about the amount of sugar their children consume.

Eating and drinking too much sugar means extra calories, which causes fat to build up inside the body. This can lead to heart disease, some cancers or type 2 diabetes later in life. Children who are overweight or obese when they are young are far more likely to become overweight or obese adults.

Sugar can also have a devastating impact upon dental health, an integral part of overall health. Tooth decay was the most common reason for hospital admissions for children aged five to nine in 2012-13. 28% of 5 year olds in England have tooth decay and of these, 24% have five or more teeth affected.

While guidelines state that no more that 10% of a person's daily energy or calorie intake should be made up of sugar, at present, children aged 4-10 years are consuming up to 50% more than this. Children aged 4-10 get 17% of their daily sugar from soft drinks; 17% from biscuits, buns, cakes, pastries and fruit pies, 14% from confectionery, 13% from fruit juice, and 8% from breakfast cereals.

Change4Life recommends four simple Sugar Swaps for mums to choose from, tackling different 'sugar occasions' in the day:

• The Breakfast Swap: sugary cereal for plain cereal e.g. wholewheat biscuit cereal
• The Drink Swap: e.g. from sugary drinks to sugar-free or no-added-sugar drinks
• The After School Swap: for example from muffin to fruited teacake
• The Pudding Swap: for example from ice cream to low-fat lower-sugar yoghurt

This campaign is about getting parents to take small steps and we know that making simple swaps works and makes a real difference. So why not take on the Sugar Swap challenge this January.

Throughout the campaign, families will be able to register for their FREE Sugar Swaps pack which they will receive through the post. The packs are filled with hints, tips and recipe suggestions designed to help parents cut down the sugary foods and drinks consumed by their children, plus money-off vouchers, swap cards and stickers. To sign up, families just need to visit the change for life website and register.