Last week Monday was World Food Day. This day is recognised every year on 16^th October and aims to highlight the on-going issue of hunger and food scarcity globally. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on the world’s efforts to ensure food security and that everyone has access to healthy food.

This year’s theme was “Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development.” The idea behind this theme was to raise awareness of the fact that addressing the reasons why people migrate will enable us to tackle hunger and food scarcity.

People migrate for many reasons such as political instability or conflict in a country, but many more people migrate due to hunger, poverty and extreme weather conditions. A lot of migration occurs in developing countries where people move within their country, for example from the countryside to the city. This puts a huge strain on already meagre resources and further exacerbates the problem of hunger and food scarcity in these countries.

Research has shown that 763 million people migrate within their borders which, contrary to popular beliefs, means there is more internal migration then external migration in the world.  When we look at the people who migrate internally a third of them are young adults aged 15-34 and almost half of them are women. The question is: what is going on? Why are young adults and women migrating in such large numbers? As previously stated people migrate for many reasons, and hunger and poverty is one of them.

What World Food Day is encouraging people to understand is why people are hungry and poor in the first place. Can we tackle those reasons? If we can get to the root of the problem and address these reasons, it will prevent hunger and poverty. This will stop people from migrating in such large numbers and then putting a strain on food resources in the cities they migrate to.

When we look at people that migrate internally, the majority come from rural areas where people depend on a limited number of sectors to survive. There tends to be a lack of job opportunities, a lack of opportunity for further education and no access to healthcare; pairing this with other issues like a natural disaster leads to migration. Therefore, this World Food Day, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations encouraged governments to focus on rural development.

Through rural development business, job and educational opportunities can be developed making communities stronger financially. Whilst providing access to good healthcare can improve their health and wellbeing. This means rural communities can become stronger so that when disaster strikes they are better equipped to overcome any natural or man-made disaster.  They can stand strong without the need for mass migration.

The key to rural development is balance.  We know that aspects of rural life are better for our health and well-being – people are more physically active, consume less processed foods, are less dependent on technology and have better social interactions. Therefore there is a need to preserve what is good about rural living and turn away from just converting rural areas into urban cities. We need a creative approach to rural development that delivers the development that is needed to strengthen communities, but doesn’t create the problems associated with urban living.  This can only be achieved by a totally understanding the communities, their interests and what they would want from urban development.

We hope that the message from World Food Day resonated with people throughout the world so that we can eradicate hunger and poverty. There is certainly enough food and resources in the world to feed everyone so let us spread that around by strengthening all communities.

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References

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations

We’re delighted to have our guest blogger, Stacey Mensah, back for more musings on healthy living. This week Stacey asks the question: ‘Should we really be eating meat?’

Should we really be eating meat? A question that I have personally battled with, time and time again. I first became interested in vegetarianism a few years ago when I was simply trying to shed a few extra pounds. My logic was that if I cut out all of these meat products then that would automatically mean that I would lose weight. I was wrong. I chose to replace those foods with unhealthy substitutes as well as stocking up on carbs but that’s a different blog post entirely. I then visited veganism a few months ago as I began watching documentaries and reading up on the composition and nutrition of particular food groups. Surprisingly till this day I still eat meat. However, I have seen a great decline in my consumption and I would go as far as to label myself a pescatarian. I would not be surprised if I became a vegan in the next 2 years or even the next six months.

Many groups have stipulated that the rise in veganism, especially in teenagers is due to Instagram and social media. Now as a millennial I see that as incredibly reductionist and also quite lazy. It’s so simple to hold social media responsible especially if it is feeding into the already negative rhetoric around the millennial and the obsession around social media. Instagram does play a role but so does YouTube, documentaries and books. Various platforms have played different roles for different people.

A 2015 World Health Organisation study found that red meat was classified as Group 2A and could probably be carcinogenic; meaning that red meat has the potential to cause cancer. The classification however is based on limited evidence. Processed meat however, i.e. bacon, salami, hot dogs etc has been classified as Group 1. This means that there is sufficient evidence that highlights the connection between processed meat and cancer.  This disease is really one of many that has been linked to eating meat and animal products. One of the major risks associated with the consumption of meat is the fact that they carry diseases and that factory farmed animals may contain toxic chemicals.

I’m sure we all managed to hear about the Dutch egg scandal that saw over 500,000 eggs contaminationed with the insecticide called Fipronil. With scandals like this in the media every so often many have decided to take their health into their own hands because for the most part you don’t know what you’re putting into your own body. With constant streams of information like this coming to light, people are asking themselves the question: Is it worth it ? And of course, many have decided against it.

For those that have continued to eat meat this could be for a variety of reasons including taste, lifestyle, training, the list is endless. Choosing to not eat meat is a largely health conscious decision but for others it could possibly be cultural, medical or simply all that they have ever known. This debate is definitely not black and white. With some groups confessing that meat eaters are happier and the other group advocating the rights of animals, just like any other important debate you should educate yourself. The controversy around eating meat requires the very same. No one is going to hold a gun to your head because you decided to opt for the steak but you should at least be aware of what consuming meat products is doing to your system.

In this week’s blog post Stacey Mensah discusses the misleading marketing strategies that influence our decisions about the food we eat using milk as an example.

I’m sure that we can all agree that knowledge is power. I would like to take it one step further however, and suggest that applied knowledge is power, especially when dealing with the various amounts of marketing strategies that tell you what you should be feeding your family and why. Now as this is a safe space so let me share something with you all. I don’t know why but for some reason my millennial brain is attracted to the most outrageous marketing gimmicks. I’ve spent ludicrous amounts on various types of water and that was only because one was in a can, the other was in a box and the last one was black. I mean really, Stacey? Four years of university education and this is what you’re contemplating. But thankfully over the years I’ve grown a lot smarter, and I think society has in general. We are more aware now than ever of what we are putting in our bodies.

An example of a misleading marketing strategy would be that of dairy. Growing up my mum would constantly rattle on about drinking more milk so that I could have strong bones when I grow up. Every child in the playground would be sipping on their milk cartons, or perhaps two, if they had managed to barter with a fellow classmate, everyone was quite blissfully unaware. Fast forward a couple of years and the consumption of milk has dramatically declined. This can be seen in the sale of milk as sales have declined by £240 million. There are now dairy alternatives that many more of us are now opting for. When looking back I realise the power of advertising because I now recall the children’s adverts promoting milk as the key to calcium to the point where many of us, with myself include,  thought that you could only get calcium from milk and boy was I wrong! Did you know that there is more calcium in Kale than there is in milk ? Now that’s something…

As a society I believe we are getting more educated about what we are putting in our bodies. The rise of alternative lifestyles including the vegan diet and the paleo diet shows that people are no longer willing to consume so much processed foods due to the way it makes them feel afterwards and because of ethical reasons. I, myself, can no longer consume dairy as I have a hard time breathing once it has been consumed. It’s all well when you say I’m going to have a cheat day but if you consistently keep eating what doesn’t agree with you, sooner or later you will pay the price. Now this is such a hypocritical statement coming from me as I’m known to be quite indulgent – but let’s roll with it. In ‘theory’ this is what we all should be doing.

A recent documentary called, ‘What The Health’, has got everyone talking and has even converted a few people to veganism. This is a documentary in which they lay bare the secrets of the food industry. This is a must watch for anyone who cares about  what they are putting into their body. I personally found it incredibly insightful and wouldn’t rule the vegan lifestyle out completely. Since watching the documentary I have seen a reduction in my consumption of meat which has been quite surprising to be honest.

With something as complex as diet there is no singular answer. My one piece of advice is this: read, watch, listen. Read articles and studies on the affects of animal products or any foods you want to consume. Just make sure that it’s contributing to your inner health and not simply satisfying a temporary craving. Watch – YouTube is your best friend when it comes to this. You have people across the world who are sharing their stories with you. They are doing the hard work so you don’t have too. And finally, listen to professionals and always seek more than one opinion.

Feel free to comment down below and let us know what you think about the documentary we mentioned…

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Lake Foundation’s blog! It’s Stacey Mensah here, The Lake Foundation’s guest blogger. As many of you may know I embarked on a 31-day challenge at the start of May. I invited all of you lovely people on this journey along with me as I was documenting this journey over on Instagram.

What is the 31-day challenge?

If you know nothing of this you need not worry because a month ago I knew nothing of this either. The 31 days saw me take on the challenge of staying away from processed foods and artificial ingredients. I was only able to eat natural things. This basically meant that I was paleo for the month which was an interesting experience for me.

What have I learned during the 31 days?

At the start of the challenge I was feeling incredibly optimistic. It was the beginning of the new month and I felt ready to take on anything and everything. Honestly I thought this challenge was going to be a walk in the park – oh how easily deceived I was! Below are some of the key things I learned during my journey:

Don’t get comfortable

The first four days were amazing. I stuck to the paleo diet of vegetables and meat and I was all about prepping my meals. It was only until the fourth day did I get a bit comfortable. I remember someone asking me about how it was going and I simply said, ‘oh yes, it’s going well’ in such a blasé manner. I hadn’t recognised how well I was doing and therefore passed it off as if I was just taking it in my stride. And because of that, I momentarily went back to my old eating habits at the end of day five. Terrible, right? But the one thing I decided before the journey began was that regardless of whether I stumble, fall or jump off this bandwagon I would always get back on.

If you don’t meal prep, you better be mentally prepared

 If you don’t meal prep one or more of the following things will happen:

1. You’re going to have to be mentally prepared for the other options that are available
2. You will most likely have to spend an arm and a leg to get food that is tailored to your diet
3. You will end up compromising. Eating food that you normally would not consider.

Depending on how busy your lifestyle is, meal prep can be incredibly tedious but you have to weigh up the alternatives. Would you rather spend an hour now making your meals for the next two days, or spending two hours during your lunch time on Monday running around London trying to find a healthy alternative? I know which one I would rather do but of course I ended up doing the latter. Of course there are many stores serving incredibly healthy options but you need to figure out what works for you. Many healthy breakfasts in London’s various trendy cafes include oats, eggs, nuts or apples and of course I am allergic to all of these things, so if you are going to skip out on your meal prep for the day please just be prepared.

Have someone to keep you accountable

Getting towards the second half of the month I enlisted the help of a friend to keep me accountable. Naively, I gave him permission to confiscate any unhealthy food that was in my possession. Now of course I didn’t think he would do it but boy, was I wrong. During this time, I was working towards a deadline. I was having an incredibly stressful day and so I thought this was reason enough to indulge in a chocolate bar.

So on this particular day, I walked into the newsroom with a Kinder Bueno, feeling somewhat settled, I approached my friend. Thinking that he would have compassion for me I began telling him how stressed I was and I realised half way through our conversation that his eyes had been fixated on this chocolate bar. He suddenly shouted, ‘No’, snatched the bar of chocolate from me and threw it in the bin. He then began an unexpected monologue on why I shouldn’t be eating this but of course I was two steps ahead. The analytical skills I spent building up during my years of undergrad were suddenly awakened. I quickly left and ran around the corner, remembering that I had one more bar left. Unfortunately, he found me, tackled me, snatched the second bar from me and stepped on it vigorously. That was the end of that!

As you can imagine I was not pleased but he was simply just doing what I had asked him to do. It’s great to have people around you that are going to keep you accountable but ultimately this is your journey.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink

Whether you recruit a single individual or a group of individuals to keep you accountable the responsibility of completing a programme or living your life a certain way rests on your shoulders. It’s important to have a reality check in times like this. The only obstacle in your way is yourself and so you can’t place the blame on others. It’s up to you to have enough self-discipline to stick to your convictions.

You’re not a dog, so don’t reward yourself with food

This is a habit that I am incredibly guilty of. I don’t know what it is but food has been something that I have always gravitated towards. I think it’s important to establish your relationship with food because starting a lifestyle change because then you are able to anticipate how you will react in certain situations. For some food is a source of comfort, a security blanket or for the lucky few it could be simply a source of nutrition. Either way you have to be prepared and know what your vices are.

As I’m now at the end of the 31-day period, I can say that my relationship with food has changed. Although everyday isn’t filled with glowing green smoothies and nutritious meals I have learned to listen to my body. I plan to continue this lifestyle change going forward and I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to challenge themselves, both mentally and physically.

This week, our guest blogger, Stacey Mensah, strips it all back when it comes to our diet and asks: ‘Why don’t we just keep it simple? In exploring this question Stacey has been inspired to start a 31 day eating clean challenge today. Follow her journey and, even better, join her on this challenge.

Hello and welcome to another week at the Lake Foundation. This week I decided to look at the idea of simplicity when it comes to diet. Now, this topic must be quite foreign to most of us as everyday life has disguised simplicity as idealism; and so we think we’re incapable of eating the way our ancestors used to. I have to admit, I do find it incredibly idealistic to live in such a way purely because I’ve never done it and I’m sure that if I did do it I would fail miserably.

Complex diet and lifestyle changes have plagued the majority of modern society’s habits but once you break down that formula for losing weight, drinking more water, or whatever that goal may be you find that it isn’t as complicated as it needs to be (or so I’ve heard). For some reason when I decide to go on a diet, or a lifestyle change, as I like to call it, I feel as though it’s​ necessary to buy certain trendy superfoods or go for products with enticing packaging. Just a quick side note though while we’re here: I know I’m not the only one in on this so please continue.

All I’m really left with in the end is an Instagram-worthy shopping cart and what can one do with that? When it comes to cooking, however, I keep it incredibly simple and that, of course, means that I end up wasting the majority of my basket – which is incredibly frustrating. This frustration, of course, drives me to my nearest chippy. And let’s be honest, chips are anything but complicated!

While looking into the idea of keeping it simple I came across an article on Dale Pinnock, who interestingly, is known as the UK’s ‘Medicinal Chef’. This lovely gentleman specializes in the medicinal properties of food and in his latest book, ‘The Medicinal Chef: The Power of Three’, he explores the secrets that can lead to a longer, healthier life. Pinnock stresses the importance of simplicity and the absurdity of buying into trends, ‘I’ve been eating kale for years, and it’s great, but when people take one thing and turn it into the ultimate panacea, that’s when you need to put the bulls*** detectors on’. So this has inspired me…

For the next 31 days, I will be eating a clean diet – free from processed foods, artificial colours​ and all of that other stuff. The exciting bit is I would like to take you along this journey towards ‘the simple life’ via social media. I’ve created the Instagram account – @staceydmensah – where you’ll be able to find daily updates of my journey. My hope for this social experiment is that we may be able to have an open dialogue about healthy eating and good food.

I hope to be speaking to some of you very soon….

Till next week….

This week is Salt Awareness Week and this year’s theme is: “Salt: The Hidden Killer.” The aim of this year’s campaign is to raise awareness of the fact that 75% of the salt that the public consumes is hidden in the everyday foods that we buy. The fact that salt is hidden means that people are consuming a lot more salt than they realise. Therefore the public is being urged to read the label of all the foods they buy and select foods that are low in salt.

In order to combat the high salt content of many foods, manufacturers have been asked to take part in a voluntary salt reduction programme. This programme sets salt targets for a range of foods such as meat products, bread, breakfast cereals, cheese and more. New UK-wide targets have been published this year, these targets are a revised version of the previous targets which were published in 2012. The 2012 targets were very successful leading to a 40-50% reduction of salt in the foods covered by the targets. Despite this success, salt consumption still remains high so the new 2017 targets are more challenging and wide-ranging.

A new survey conducted by the Consensus for Action on Salt and Health has found that only one (bread rolls) out of the twenty-eight food categories analysed were on track to meet the salt reduction targets. They also identified specific products that still had a unacceptably high levels of salt, of particular note were:

• Baxters Chef Selections Cullen Skink (1.1g salt/100g), more than 1.5 times salt (per 100g) the maximum salt reduction target for soup
• Aldi The Fishmonger Piri Piri Smoked Mackerel Fillets (8g salt/serving), 4 times more salt (per 100g) the maximum salt reduction target for meal centres
• Galaxy Ultimate Marshmallow Hot Chocolate (0.8g salt per serving), 5 times more salt (per 100g) the maximum salt reduction target for beverages

In the UK, it is recommended that adults eat no more than 6 grams of salt a day (about a teaspoon) and children under the age of 11 should it less, depending on their age as follows:

• 7-10 year olds: no more than 5 grams a day
• 4-6 year olds: no more than 3 grams a day
• 1-3 year olds: no more than 2 grams a day

The World Health Organisation recommends that adults consume even less salt, no more than 5 grams a day. They have concluded that a diet of less than 5 grams of salt a day helps to reduce blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and coronary heart attack.

It is very important that the black community takes steps to reduce their salt intake as the black community is more susceptible to the effect that salt has on increasing blood pressure. In order to reduce your salt consumption you can try:

• Avoiding processed foods
• Using low/no salt seasonings, like this
• Replacing salt, when seasoning food, with herbs and spices
• Reading food labels and selecting foods that are low in salt
• Not adding any salt to the foods that you cook

By reducing the amount of salt we eat, we can reduce our risk of developing a number of diseases so it is important that we stick to the recommendation of less than 6 grams a day.

This week, our wonderful guest blogger, Stacey Mensah, discusses whether blueberries are a superfood or a superscam. Tell us what you think in the comments sections below. 

Welcome back to the ​Lake Foundation! How has your week been? This week for me has been an incredibly tiring one. I couldn’t even tell you what happened on Monday because one: I currently don’t have enough energy to think that far back, and two: I honestly just don’t want to. With moving into a new place and the intensification of work and social commitments, I haven’t been consuming the beloved 10-a-day – heck, if I consumed 3-a-day that would be an achievement. On this particular day I was feeling skinny – you know, think and you become and all of that – so as I said, I was feeling skinny and so I popped into a local health food store. My plan going into the shop was to simply pick up a few superfoods, some vegetables, and poultry. Nothing too extravagant. What I was faced with when I walked in was absolute madness. The prices of the superfoods were robbing me of any dignity I had left. I proceeded to pace up and down the shop floor wondering if this was a system error or if Johnny got a bit too excited with his marker. Nonetheless, I walked out with no superfoods in hand.

It begs the question: are superfoods a super scam? I would happily agree, end this discussion here and go eat a Kit-Kat. That, of course, is because with the prices independent stores are charging one would think that these superfoods would be​ covered in gold dust. That, of course, is not the case. The superfood in question today is the humble blueberry. With its low glycaemia index and antioxidant qualities, you can definitely be prepared to pay the premium for a punnet. There could possibly be a reason behind this.

New research that has conducted by the European Journal of Nutrition found that the daily consumption of one cup of fresh blueberries can improve cognition in healthy older adults. Meaning that you will understand, learn and remember things far more easily. Not too bad when you’re trying to remember what you did last week. The study was conducted over a 3-month period, with 13 healthy men and 24 healthy women between the ages of 60 and 75 being randomly assigned to receive Highbush blueberry powder daily (the equivalent of one cup of fresh blueberries) or a placebo powder. The results were incredibly telling and emphasising the importance of the promotion of healthy ageing. So, we’re in agreement; yes, blueberries are fantastic for your health, but what does labelling them as a superfood do to our pockets?

When a piece of fruit or veg is more expensive I automatically think that it must be better for me. Unfortunately, the hipster-ish packaging only encourages this mentality. And, honestly, the sales clerks with their ‘love life, love food’ slogan tees are not helping the situation and giving me free food, I mean c’mon, couldn’t you just ignore me, Johnny?  So what’s left? Where can you buy cheap fruit and vegetables while still not compromising on the quality? With the rampant gentrification of London and the blow of Brexit, this is not an easy question to answer. Regardless of your budget, find what works for you. Above all else, it’s about quality and not quantity.

We welcome back our guest blogger, Stacey Mensah. This week Stacey reflects on the new research conducted by Imperial College London that found we need to eat more than 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day to achieve a significant health benefit.

Welcome back to the Lake Foundation!

I hope this week hasn’t been too depressing for you with the arrival storm Doris. This has been a week of great reflection for me as I look back on how I became the person I am today. I’ve been particularly looking at my eating habits and how they formed. This comes at quite an interesting time as new studies have found that eating greater amounts of fruit vegetables can lower your risk of disease. Honestly, I’ll give them an A for effort. Studies like this one are not going to comfort you when it’s a movie night and you have no food; or, when you’re coming from work and you ‘happen’ to stumble across the infamous golden arches. Ultimately, people are going to treat studies such as these as a pick ‘n’ mix or an all you can eat buffet. So, here is what’s on the menu, or rather what the study has found.

Eating 10 portions of fruits and vegetable​s every day​ could significantly reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, a new study has found. The study, that was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, also identified which fruit and vegetables provided the greatest protection against disease.

The research found that apples, pears, citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables and cruciferous vegetables may help protect against heart disease, cardiovascular disease, ​and early death. The foods that were found to prevent cancer were green vegetables, yellow vegetables such as peppers and carrots, and cruciferous vegetables.

Other studies have also supported this thesis, as a separate study that was published in the Thorax journal, found that a fruit and veg rich diet is linked to a much lower risk of chronic lung disease. I’m guessing this isn’t something we haven’t already heard before. I don’t know about you but what I’m particularly interested in is how we fit 10 portions of fruit and veg into our daily intake. With all the dinners and drinks the working women have​ scheduled during the week you really don’t want to be that friend who is taking out her Tupperware containers at the dinner table.

Having just lost 10 pounds from switching up my eating habits I would suggest making your meals in advance – which means making them from scratch and staying away from processed foods. At the beginning, ​it’s best not to be over ambitious as you will have lots of leftover food. Another suggestion would be to invest in a smoothie maker. Thankfully I was gifted a Nutri-bullet a while back so it has made eating vegetables and fruit much easier. The main thing to keep in mind is that you want to ​strike a balance – you don’t want to overload on sugar.

Comment down below on how you manage to eat 10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

We would love to hear from you….

A few weeks ago the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and WHO announced that:

“After thoroughly reviewing the accumulated scientific literature, a Working Group of 22 experts from 10 countries convened by the IARC Monographs Programme classified the consumption of red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A), based on limited evidence that the consumption of red meat causes cancer in humans and strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect.

This association was observed mainly for colorectal cancer, but associations were also seen for pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.

Processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer.”

This was picked up by hundreds of media outlets throughout the world with headlines stating that bacon causes cancer.  Today we wanted to take a look at this and get to the bottom of the media headlines.

Firstly IARC and WHO’s announcement wasn’t really new information, a number of research studies over the years have shown that red and processed meats increases a person’s risk of developing bowel cancer and charities like Bowel Cancer UK and Beating Bowel Cancer have been raising awareness of this fact for a number of years.

The wording of the statement and the classification of red and processed meat suggested that bacon and other processed meats were in the same league as tobacco and asbestos but this is not the case and WHO has since clarified this.  They have said whilst they have placed them in the same category “this does NOT mean they are all equally dangerous.”

If we look at global statistics about one million cancer deaths a year are caused by smoking whilst 34,000 cancer deaths are caused by consuming high levels of processed meat and red meat could be responsible for about 50,000 cancer deaths a year.

Research by the World Cancer Research Fund has shown that people who consume the most processed meat have and 17% higher risk of developing bowel cancer that those who consumed the least.

If you put that into the UK context, 21% of bowel cancers are linked to high consumption of processed or red meat, that’s 8,732 cases per year. So by reducing consumption of red and processed meats we can prevent over 8,000 cases of bowel cancer every year.

You may be wondering why red and processed meats increase a person’s risk of developing bowel cancer and to answer that question we have to understand what processed and red meats are. Processed meats are any meat that has been preserved for example cured, salted,  smoked or had a preservative added. This includes bacon, ham, corned beef, pepperoni, hot dogs, salami etc. And, red meat includes beef, pork, lamb and goat; these are meats that are red when uncooked.

It is not entirely clear why red and processed meat increase a person’s risk of developing bowel cancer, but there are some theories. It is thought that processed meats increase risk of bowel cancer because the methods of preserving these meats lead to the development of cancer-causing substances.  When it comes to red meat,  scientist suggest that it may cause cancer due to the molecule that  gives red meat its colour (haem). This molecule may lead to the development of cancer-causing chemicals too. Additionally, cooking both red and processed meat at high temperatures may also generate cancer-causing substances.

The recommendation is that we should all cut down on red meat and avoid processed meat, these can be replaced with white meat or vegetarian options, and we should all be eating more fruits, vegetables and fibre.

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Sources
WHO
International Agency for Research on Cancer
Cancer Research UK
World Caner Research Fund

Last week the UK government published its report ‘Sugar Reduction: The Evidence for Action’. This is an interesting report which we hope the government will follow through on and take action to ensure that we improve the health of our nation.

In the report, we get a good summary of the problem – we are all eating too much sugar and this is contributing to our ill health. The report states that all population groups are consuming above the recommended amount of sugar.  The report notes that sugar sweetened drinks are a particular problem for school children with their consumption of these drinks being very high. Additionally they state that sugar consumption is the highest amongst disadvantaged groups, and this needs to be tackled.

We learn from the report that one of the key reasons that we are now consuming so much sugar is that food is more readily available, more heavily marketed, promoted and advertised and food is now cheaper than ever before and all these factors mean we over indulge, particularly when it comes to sugar.

The report quite helpfully discusses the factors that affect our sugar consumption which is important if we’re going to tackle sugar consumption and encourage people to change their behaviour. They divide these factors into three categories – influencers,  the food supply and knowledge/education.  Influencers include strategies  that influence our consumption and buying behaviour. This would include advertising and marketing campaigns as well as product promotions. The major players in this area are the food industry, supermarkets etc. but could actually be charities, the government and NGOs who should have a positive impact on our behaviour. Next is the food supply chain. This factor looks at what food is available to purchase and how easy is it to purchase certain foods. This focuses on all food outlets including supermarkets, restaurants, schoolsand workplaces, their pricing strategies and what they choose to offer the public. Finally we have knowledge and education, this is the information we disseminate to the public which can empower people to make healthier choices.

With the above in mind the report stresses that multiple actions need to be taken to reduce our sugar consumption. They believe that by everyone reducing their sugar consumption to no less than 5% of our total energy intake, within 10 years residents of the UK can significantly improve their health and start to reverse the increasing prevalence of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The report makes the following recommendations as to how we can begin to tackle this issues and break our addiction to sugar:

• Reduce and rebalance the number and type of price promotions in all retail outlets including supermarkets and convenience stores and the out of home sector (including restaurants, cafes and takeaways)
• Significantly reduce opportunities to market and advertise high sugar food and drink products to children and adults across all media including digital platforms and through sponsorship
• The setting of a clear definition for high sugar foods to aid with actions 1 and 2 above. Currently the only regulatory framework for doing this is via the Ofcom nutrient profiling model, which would benefit from being reviewed and strengthened
• Introduction of a broad, structured and transparently monitored programme of gradual sugar reduction in everyday food and drink products, combined with reductions in portion size
• Introduction of a price increase of a minimum of 10-20% on high sugar products through the use of a tax or levy such as on full sugar soft drinks, based on the emerging evidence of the impact of such measures in other countries
• Adopt, implement and monitor the government buying standards for food and catering services (GBSF) across the public sector, including national and local government and the NHS to the ensure provision and sale of healthier food and drinks in hospitals, leisure centres etc
• Ensure that accredited training in diet and health is routinely delivered to all of those who have opportunities to influence food choices in the catering, fitness and leisure sectors and others within local authorities
• Continue to raise awareness of concerns around sugar levels in the diet to the public as well as health professionals, employers, the food industry etc., encourage action to reduce intakes and provide practical steps to help people lower their own and their families sugar intake

The Lake Foundation is in strong agreement with the above recommendations and will do our part in taking forward these recommendations. This area is of particularly importance to the black community who suffer higher rates of diseases like type 2 diabetes and stroke which are linked to high sugar consumption.

You can download the government’s report below.