Daily Mail - Five-year-olds 'eat their body weight in sugar every year'

Five-year-olds 'eat their body weight in sugar every year': Children eating 3.5 stone which is three times the recommended amount
Children eat average of 22kgs or 5,500 sugar cubes each year
It is leading to obesity and tooth decay according to Government survey
Ministers expected to publish obesity strategy at the end of January
By SOPHIE BORLAND, HEALTH CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Five-year old children eat their body weight in sugar every year, stark new figures reveal.
They consume an average of 22 kilos – nearly three and a half stone– the same as 5,500 sugar cubes.
This is three times the recommended amount and is leading to obesity and tooth decay. The figures are based on a Government survey of the eating habits of 3,400 children aged four to ten.
They have been published ahead of a campaign to encourage patients to buy healthier foods by using a smartphone App, which tells them the sugar content of products.
But campaigners said this was merely a ‘gimmick’ which would do little to curb the very high rates of obesity in children and adults.
The Government is expected to publish its long-awaited new obesity strategy at the end of the month amid accusations they have repeatedly failed to address the crisis.
A fifth of five-year-olds and a third of 11-year-olds are overweight or obese and although rates are no longer rising, they are amongst the worst in Europe.
Ministers have been accused by experts of being ‘too cosy’ with the food industry by allowing to set their own targets for making products healthier......