worried about sugar...

[um]

My daughter has a massive sugar problem - one that nobody will really take seriously because she is very thin.

Others may talk about 'permissive parenting' but it isn't as simple as that. I have 4 other children who don't have this issue.
She can access sugary snacks at school and at the local shops. When there are none at home she gets a bowl of sugar and eats that (yes ).
I've come to feel it is an addiction, really, and helping her overcome it is not straightforward. Eating sugary things triggers a physical and even emotional response in the body. This may be stronger for some than others.

As for parents who will only allow their children to eat a paleo diet/ organic food etc. I have come across them and unfortunately these children tend to go wild with food once they are out of the reach of their parents. Trying to promote general awareness of food groups and enjoyment of smaller portions of good quality food seems more sensible.

[PurpleDuck]

Um, I've sent you a PM, I hope it's ok.

[Banany]

I have come on to offer a different perspective, now that the sugar tax has been implemented.

I come from the perspective of someone who works with people in poverty. I can tell you, Jamie Oliver has zero idea of how to help people struggling on the lowest incomes to eat healthily, and nor do many other middle-class people. His "how to eat healthily on a budget" is pure fantasy land; such as "buy a large cut of meat from your butcher and then keep it in your freezer" assuming people a)have the disposable income to buy a large cut of meat b) have a freezer large enough to store all the bulk-buy meat. If you have £20 that week to feed your family, you're not going to spend it all on buying a leg of lamb or bulk-buying any other ingredient. This campaigning for a sugar tax just adds to that view.

We could have enforced better regulation on manufacturers, restricting the amount of sugar in their products. We could have offered a tax incentive for healthy foods, but no, what we are doing is making the cheapest, nastiest foods more expensive, because they have a lot of sugar in them.

Plus, dairy products are excluded; so suddenly your black coffee with a teaspoon of sugar becomes more expensive than a whipped-cream latte with hazelnut sauce, your ice-cream less expensive than your sorbet, your smoothie more expensive than your full-fat milkshake.

Sugar tax is not going to teach people healthy habits or encourage moderation. Nor will it suddenly make eating healthier less expensive or easier.

If you have £50 per week for food, clothing, toiletries, transport; you end up buying awful food. You can't afford the bus fare to the supermarket (you can only afford to go to work), so you end up with the mini-mart. The food in the mini-mart is more expensive and hasn't got a great deal of fresh produce. Not only that, but fruit and veg, whilst lovely and healthy, don't fill you up for long. As for Stevia and other sweeteners like that - if you can't afford bread for the week, you're not going to spend money on sweet alternatives.

There have been several studies on food poverty, all show that those on low incomes are much more likely to be obese and have food-related health problems. My organisation works with the Trussell Trust and people have to be referred to food banks to access them - usually by a GP. People in this country (working families, mostly) are starving and suffering from poor nutrition. Sugar tax is going to add to that burden.

In short, all this will do is make it more difficult for poor people to feed themselves adequately and is, frankly, a big distraction from truly awful things like Osborne cutting the disability allowance again.

[Proud_Dad]

Fair points Banany. Not everyone has the option to drive down to Waitrose in their 4x4 when their organic sea-bass stocks are running low, grow their own vegetables in the garden and then proudly proclaim how they always cook healthy food from scratch!

and is, frankly, a big distraction from truly awful things like Osborne cutting the disability allowance again.

I also agree with the above. The sugar tax seems to have conveniently distracted everyone from some other announcements which will have a far more serious impact on vulnerable people.

I do think though that many poorer families on a budget could still eat a lot healthier than they do for no more expense or for even less than they already spend if they were better informed.

If eating healthy and staying slim was purely down to wealth, then the poorest countries on Earth would have the fattest people and that's obviously not the case. You don't see many fat Ethiopians. It only tends to be wealthy countries like the UK and USA who have obesity problems, but as you point out it tends to be the poorer people within those countries who are most prone to it.

I take your point about people who are only able to shop at the minimart, but I also think that class and culture have a lot to do with it rather than just wealth.

I don't really like making sweeping generalisations about class, but to give a simple example, has anyone else observed a correlation between social class and having sugar in hot drinks? In my experience of making tea and coffee for people, "working class" people (particularly builders!) will quite often have a couple of spoonfuls of sugar with their cuppa whereas most "middle class" people I know don't tend to have any. That's obviously not down to wealth because not having sugar at all costs less than having it! So it seems to be more of a cultural lifestyle effect.

It is perefectly possible to eat more healthy on a budget. Healthy cereals like Weetabix don't cost any more than sugary Frosties. Pasta, rice and baked potatoes don't cost any more than chips. A banana doesn't cost any more than a bar of chocolate.

And finally the "sugar tax" that everyone's talking about will just be applied to fizzy drinks won't it? There is a healthy alternative to fizzy pop that you don't need to drive to the supermarket to get. Its called water, it comes straight out of the kitchen tap and best of all its absolutely free!

[mad?]

The sugar tax seems to have conveniently distracted everyone from some other announcements which will have a far more serious impact on vulnerable people.

Indeed, but wasn't that why he brought it in? To hide the dirt under the carpet?

[salsa]

I sympathise with the issues about poverty. I think we should invest more in educating people about nutrition and cooking. I have been in courses teachings just that and I have been the only one! The courses provided child care and were given by a nutritionist.

I also remember being a student on a budget, but that didn't stop me cycling to the supermarket to buy my food and cooking it from scratch.

I assume those poor people mentioned do not buy take aways, cigarettes or alcohol?
How much is a pack of cigarettes these days?

[Catseye]

I also remember being a student on a budget, but that didn't stop me cycling to the supermarket to buy my food and cooking it from scratch.

I also remember being a student on a budget, but that didn't stop me cycling to the kebab shop and the off-licence for the cheapest bottle of thunderbird I could get as well as a pack of 20 Lamberts

How would the chattering classes like an increase in tax on their daily bottle of Chabli?

[salsa]

I also remember being a student on a budget, but that didn't stop me cycling to the supermarket to buy my food and cooking it from scratch.

I also remember being a student on a budget, but that didn't stop me cycling to the kebab shop and the off-licence for the cheapest bottle of thunderbird I could get as well as a pack of 20 Lamberts

How would the chattering classes like an increase in tax on their daily bottle of Chabli?

[booellesmum]

DH not impressed wine duty going up! And the freeze on duty for beer and cider will encourage responsible drinking won't it?

[Amber]

Hoping the resignation of IDS will by this time tomorrow have led to a mass exodus and a no confidence vote.

The sugar tax is fluff. Being disabled isn't.

Slight restoration of faith in politicians tonight. Shame it's only one of them. (If you missed Nicky Morgan on QT last night it's worth seeing on iPlayer).