The consumption of sugary drinks among children has increased by 23% in the last 30 years. Romania is in first place in Europe in terms of sugar consumption, despite the increase in VAT and the tax on sugar at the beginning of this year.

According to a study recently published in the British Medical Journal, the consumption of sugary drinks among children has increased by almost 23% over three decades. Globally, the growth coincided with the childhood obesity rate, the highest levels of consumption are recorded in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa.

Other studies show that in Europe, Romania is first in sugar consumption per capita (not only among children but for the whole population), experts often talk about the real dependence of the population on sugar products.

The new study processed data from 185 countries, including Romania. It has been found that teenagers and children from almost every part of the world are drinking more juice and other sugary drinks than before.

According to the study led by researchers from the US, Greece, Canada and Mexico, in 2018, children consumed an average of 3.6 portions of sugary drinks per week, an increase of 22.9% compared to 1990, much more pronounced than among adults.

Childhood obesity has increased during this period, affecting approximately 160 million children and adolescents worldwide. “Our findings should raise an alarm signal in almost every country in the world,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, lead author of the study and director of the Food and Medicine Institute at Tufts University in the US.

The researchers analyzed sugar-sweetened drinks which included juice, energy drinks and fruit drinks and excluded 100% fruit and vegetable juices, non-caloric drinks sweetened to art and sweet milk, tea and coffee.

Previous studies have shown that sugary drinks are linked to a higher risk of obesity among young people. Over time, this problem translates into a number of health problems in adulthood, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancer.

The report shows that among the biggest consumers of sugary drinks come from countries with lower income, from families in urban areas, with parents with a higher level of education.

At the same time, higher income households from countries with higher per capita income have lower consumption. There are also regional differences: Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa reported the highest overall levels of consumption (9.1 and 7.3 servings per week, respectively).

“The influence of multinational corporations responsible for ultra-processed foods, marketing strategies aimed at youth, lack (or deficiency) of regulatory measures to limit BSA consumption have also been consistently observed in Latin America and regions other economies with room for improvement.” , the researchers said.

High-income countries, such as those in Western Europe and North America, also saw a decline in sugary drink consumption among children between 2005 and 2018, after rising between 1990 and 2005. This could be due, among other things, to an increase in obesity rates and the introduction of alternatives with less sugar.

In 56 of the 185 countries surveyed, children ate on average at least seven portions a week, which represents 238 million children and adolescents, ie 10.4% of young people worldwide. world

The findings underscore “the need for specific educational and policy interventions to change behavior early and prevent negative outcomes associated with childhood sugar-sweetened beverage consumption,” said Laura Lara-Castor, first author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington.

These interventions could include taxes, regulations, aspects that were also introduced in Romania at the beginning of this year.

Although the study mainly emphasizes the worrying consumption in the countries of Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East, the statistics published at the end of last year show that Romania has a serious problem also in this sense. Romanians are among the biggest consumers of sugar in the world and in first place in Europe, with a national average of 30 kilograms per year per inhabitant.

To limit the consumption of products containing sugar (more precisely, a minimum of 10g of sugar / 100g per product), from 1 January 2024 the government increased the VAT for sugar products and carbonated drinks from 9 to 19% . In addition, a tax on sugar was introduced, a measure that was reflected in the producer’s price increase.

Romanian doctors recommend that sugar does not exceed 10% of the total number of calories consumed in a day, ie 50 g for a 2,000 kcal diet. Otherwise, health is at risk.

If you want to offer the little ones something sweet and you don’t want to overdo it, you could look for healthy sugar substitutes that allow them to enjoy a little, but without the increase in blood sugar or the inflammation that comes with it. regular refined sugar.