In a move to combat the negative implications of consuming too much sugar, the World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed that daily sugar intake be reduced to just 5 percent of a person's total calorie intake, which is half of what it currently recommends.
In its draft guideline on sugars intake for adults and children, WHO said that people should try to reduce their sugar intake as this could lead to unwanted health conditions.
"There is increasing concern that consumption of free sugars, particularly in the form of sugar-sweetened beverages, may result in both reduced intake of foods containing more nutritionally adequate calories and an increase in total caloric intake, leading to an unhealthy diet, weight gain and increased risk of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)," WHO said. "Also of great concern is the role free sugars play in the development of dental diseases, particularly dental caries."
Although the agency's current recommendation from 2002 for sugar intake is less than 10 percent of the total energy intake per day, it said that a reduction of sugar intake to 5 percent of the daily energy intake would be beneficial.
"WHO's current recommendation, from 2002, is that sugars should make up less than 10% of total energy intake per day. The new draft guideline also proposes that sugars should be less than 10% of total energy intake per day. It further suggests that a reduction to below 5% of total energy intake per day would have additional benefits," the WHO said in a statement. "Five percent of total energy intake is equivalent to around 25 grams (around 6 teaspoons) of sugar per day for an adult of normal Body Mass Index (BMI).
The draft guideline was based on a review of published scientific studies on sugar consumption and its link to excess weight gain and tooth decay in both children and adults. "We should aim for five per cent if we can ... but 10 per cent is more realistic," said WHO head of nutrition for health and development Francesco Branco. "Sugar might become the new tobacco in terms of risk."
High sugar intake is strongly associated with obesity and tooth decay. WHO said that tooth decay causes a number of problems to a large number of people worldwide including pain, functional limitation, anxiety and social handicap. Obesity, on the other hand, is associated with life-threatening health conditions such as heart disease and cancer. Obese people are also more likely to develop diabetes than people who have normal weight.
