Children's school lunchboxes LOADED with 14 teaspoons of sugar, research reveals

19 September 2019, 11:33

Kids aged four to six should have no more than five teaspoons of sugar a day, says the NHS.

A child’s lunchbox could contain a whopping 14 teaspoons of sugar, new research has warned.

Many popular snacks and drinks for kids are packed with the natural sweetener and when gobbled down together could mean your little ones are consuming three days’ worth of sugar in just one sitting.

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The NHS recommends children aged four to six should consume no more than five teaspoons of sugar a day. When they hit seven years old it goes up to six teaspoons, and from 11 years old it's seven teaspoons.

But hidden sugars inside 'healthy' yoghurts, smoothies and fruits perfect for school pack-ups can easily tot up to almost 60g (15 tsp).

An Innocent Kids’ Smoothie contains 18g, a Munch Bunch Double Up Fromage Frais Strawberry & Vanilla yoghurt holds 10.7g, a snack pack of Sunny Raisin Yoghurt contains 15.3g, and a Cadbury Curly Wurly has 13g inside.

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The shocking discovery comes as health experts reveal that by 2024 four in ten children will be overweight or obese when they leave primary school – that's over a third of UK pupils.

Public Health England believes that up to 38.1 per cent of 11-years-old will have tipped into any unhealthy weight bracket in five years’ time.

Director of Health Improvement Professor John Newton commented on the fat epidemic and said officials have a "moral responsibility" to tackle the growing issue.

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He said: “Obviously the rate is still increasing slightly.

“This really just emphasises the importance of tackling childhood obesity and continuing to pursue the interventions that we know will make a difference.

“We know that child obesity predicts adult obesity and leads to a whole range of poor health outcomes: diabetes, heart disease, musculoskeletal conditions.

“In the past, we were particularly concerned about infectious diseases like tuberculosis.

“What we’re seeing is a transition towards a new set of problems of which obesity is probably the most obvious.”