UK teenagers ‘drinking a bathtub of sugary drinks each year’

A new report has indicated that UK teenagers are drinking the equivalent of a bathtub full of sugary drinks each year.

Analysis from Cancer Research UK based on National Diet and Nutrition Survey data indicated that those aged between 11 and 18 consume almost a full bathtub, while four to ten-year-olds are drinking the equivalent of almost half a bathtub annually.

Overall, adults and young children are currently ingesting twice the maximum recommended amount of added sugar in their diets, with 11 to 18-year-olds' intake reaching three times the recommended limit. Sugary drinks are known to be the main source of added sugar.

This is a worrying public health trend, as it is understood that obese children are around five times more likely to grow into obese adults, putting them at greater risk of cancer and other diseases.

As such, the report welcomed the imminent introduction of a new sugar tax and a drive to reduce the sugar content of processed food, but suggested more could still be done.

Alison Cox, director of prevention at Cancer Research UK, said: "The government can do more to give the next generation a better chance by closing the loophole on junk food advertising on TV before the 9 pm watershed."

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