Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE IRISH HEART Foundation has said that celebrities and sports stars should stop advertising sugary drinks that are aimed at young people.
It made the call as a study from the British Medical Journal said that a 20 per cent sugary drink tax would cut number of UK obese adults by 180,000. The under 30s are likely to be the most affected as they consume the most sugary drinks.
Ireland
The Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has been calling for a sugar tax for quite some time, and had been hoping that the Government would introduce a sugar tax in the 2014 Budget. However, this did not take place.
The BMJ study, by a British Heart Foundation research group, looked at the impact that a 20 per cent tax on sugar-sweetened drinks would have on the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the UK.
Its results suggest that such a tax on sugar sweetened drinks would reduce the number of UK adults who are obese by 180,000 (1.3 per cent) and who are overweight by 285,000 (0.9 per cent).
Regular consumption of sugar sweetened drinks increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.
The tax would be expected to raise £276m (€326m) annually and would reduce consumption of sugar sweetened drinks by around 15 per cent.
This revenue, say the authors, “could be used to increase NHS funding” or to subsidise healthy foods. But they stress that it “should not be seen as a panacea” and say further work is needed to clarify the level (and patterns) of sugar sweetened drink consumption in the UK.
Welcoming the study
Maureen Mulvihill, health promotion manager at the Irish Heart Foundation, said that they welcome the study, and that it echoes research which the same authors undertook in Ireland last year.
“They are essentially high in calories but low in nutrients,” said Mulvihill of sugary drinks. “Effectively they have no nutrients and are not serving a purpose in the Irish diet.”
She noted that the group most likely to drink such drinks are people aged 18-24, who are also least likely to engage in healthy behaviours.
Mulvihill described the failure of a sugar tax being put into place in Budget 2014 as a “missed opportunity” by the Government.
She noted the latest safefood survey, which aims at educating parents about how to keep their children at a healthy weight.
“If in tandem with the education and encouraging parents to stop serving children sugary drinks, the government also put a tax on these drinks, I think it would endorse the education message,” she said.
It would also help parents understand this taxation is for a public health need and it is not a tax for taxation’s sake.
The IHF would like to see any money raised through the tax used for being put back into health projects and tackling obesity.
When asked if there should be a stricter tax for energy drinks, which have raised health concerns, Mulvihill said: “I think at the moment it’s important that such an intervention tax is easy to administer so that it doesn’t fall at the first fence.”
She said that the IHF would be happy that these energy drinks would be targeted, and it would have “concerns about the whole marketing about these drinks – they are designed only for athletes and sports people expending high levels of energy”.
She pointed out that they tend to be marketed by sports people, but tend to be consumed by younger people who “will see them as ‘these athletes consume them they must be good’”. It is an “area of huge concern”, she said.
I think it would be very helpful not to have sports celebs endorse these drinks and product.
Mulvihill said that although drinks companies say they are not targeting young people, young people are still seeing the advertisements for the sugary drinks, and don’t tend to heed warnings on packaging.
As we would have the same rate of overweight people as the UK in terms of percentage, this means we would effectively see a similar percentage drop in obesity levels according to the study, pointed out Mulvihill.
“It sounds small but in reality it is causing a consumption shift and a health shift across a population,” she said. “10,000 less being obese is a major positive health move.”
The IHF will continue to lobby for a sugar tax, particularly in the run-up to next year’s Budget announcement.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
but but but Poots took legal advice …… god save us
@Jim Buckley Barrett: Did you hear who he took that advice from? I’m not even kidding here, Jamie effing Bryson. The loyalist headbanger. .
@Pete Gilmartin: the Poundshop Lawyer, mar a deir Colum Eastwood. The absolute catastrophe that is the leadership of far-right Unionism, is like an elixer of youth for me today, its like drinking pure happiness. Can’t wait for this Assembly election now.
@Pete Gilmartin: Are you serious? Bryson hasn’t even passed the bar.
@Pete Gilmartin: Had to go and Google that… Seems you were kidding, Poots got his legal advice from John Larkin the former Attorney General in the North.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Yep, but Bryson claimed in a radio interview he gave it. Anything to try to make himself relevant.
@Isa: That’s it, he’d say mass…
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: No Kidding – Bryson is claiming in todays Belfast Telegraph that he had been advising Poots and the DUP with all the legal implications of the Protocol for months.
Poots said yesterday that he also received legal opinion from John Larkin but didnt clarify what that opinion was and which opinion he eventually went on before acting. Mind you, I dont think the DUP was ever in the business of taking advice from anyone.
@Angela McCarthy: that’s a scurrilous remark ! DUP take advice from Doctor No.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Bryson never passed a bar in his life, especially when Edwin in buying.
If this judicial review shows that Edwin Poots broke the law then he should suffer the consequences of his actions.
@Joe Johnson: while I agree in principle, he can say it was based on legal advice and legal advice often differs, even though what he was trying to do was a wrecking tactic, it’s probably not criminal. In any case, he hasn’t managed to be selected by his party to run in the now consequent election, so his punishment will be to live on in ignominy as one of the most incompetent politicians in the history of Ireland or Britain. And probably the World.
Playing bigoted politics to get what you what to the detriment of workers across the whole island should not be allowed happen, he somehow needs to be sanctioned
You couldn’t write what’s happening in the UK at present. Brexit is a disaster and will have long lasting negative ramifications. Throw in the DUP and Borris and the asylum starts rocking to ABBA….
There’s no one driving the red bus these days, they’re all partying down the back.
@Kevin Conway: I quote Professor Anton Muscatelli principal and vice chancellor at the University of Glasgow from 2018.
“the most unhinged example of national self-sabotage in living memory.”
I think the legal opinion that Poots received must have been given to him at an Orange Lodge, or in a pub.
@Angela McCarthy: The News Letter says he got it from John Larkin the former Attorney General in the North.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Jamie Bryson is claiming credit for it on Twitter
@James Beattie: Forgive me for not believing Mr. Bryson.
Here it is for all unionist supporters to see, the UK government does care about Northern Ireland or even consider it as part of the union. Serious questions need to be asked by the people of NI, and in particular the six counties, if they see themselves as been part of the UK moving forward, with the likes of the DUP.
@Michael: I presume you meant to say – ” does not care” in which case I agree with you 100%
@David Abbott: yes.
@David Abbott: correct.
Well that’s embarrassing…
That’ll poots him in his place
Better call Saul…..
Pussin Poots
The Befast High Court did’nt give two hoots for Edwin Poots.
have your say