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Americans should get no more than 6% of their daily calories from added sugar, a federal committee recommends, down from the current 10% guideline.
A federal committee’s recommendation that Americans should limit their consumption of added sugars to 6% of their daily calories—down from the current guideline of 10%—is spotlighting the growing toll of obesity on the nation’s health, and drawing pushback from makers of candy and sodas.
The guidance, from a committee’s recommendations for new U.S. dietary guidelines, aims to address rising rates of obesity and the poor quality of most Americans’ diets. Obesity has been linked to an increased risk of health problems, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer—and raises the risk for severe illness with Covid-19.
“One of the biggest health challenges related to nutrition in this country is overweight and obesity,” says Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, chair of the nutrition department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who chaired the federal committee’s beverages and added sugars subcommittee.
Most Americans aren’t even limiting their added sugar to the current 10% guideline. Nearly two-thirds of people age 1 and older consumed more than 10% of their daily calories in added sugar, according to 2013-2016 data analyzed by the committee. The mean consumption is 13%.
More than 70% of U.S. adults ages 20 and older are overweight or obese, according to 2015-2016 figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 42% are obese, according to 2017-2018 CDC data. Nearly 14% of children ages 2 to 5 are obese, as are about 18% of 6-to-11-year-olds and about 21% of 12-to-19-year-olds. The subcommittee is recommending that toddlers under age 2 not consume any added sugar. These will be the first federal dietary guidelines to include recommendations for children under 2.
The new limit applies only to added sugars, found in processed foods from soda and pasta sauce to cereal and yogurt, as well as honey and sugar itself. The primary source of added sugars in Americans’ diets is sugar-sweetened beverages. A 16-ounce “grande” pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, for example, has 50 grams of sugar, or 10% of a 2,000 calorie diet. Other main sources are desserts, candy, coffee and tea with added sugar, and breakfast cereals and bars.
The committee isn’t discouraging intake of foods that naturally contain sugar, like fruit and milk, because it says those foods provide other nutritional benefits and that most Americans aren’t eating enough of them. Overall, the committee wants Americans to eat more foods that are included in diets associated with good health outcomes—which it says are rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean meat and poultry—and fewer foods linked to poor health, including sugar-sweetened foods and drinks, refined grains and large amounts of red meat. “The first concern is for people to choose a healthy diet that will promote their long-term health, growth and development,” says Dr. Mayer-Davis.
The new recommendation for added sugars is part of the process of a coming revision of the U.S. government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which is updated every five years. The committee released its recommendations in July; now the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services will review them and issue final guidelines by the end of the year.
Full Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-lim...=hp_lead_pos13
A federal committee’s recommendation that Americans should limit their consumption of added sugars to 6% of their daily calories—down from the current guideline of 10%—is spotlighting the growing toll of obesity on the nation’s health, and drawing pushback from makers of candy and sodas.
The guidance, from a committee’s recommendations for new U.S. dietary guidelines, aims to address rising rates of obesity and the poor quality of most Americans’ diets. Obesity has been linked to an increased risk of health problems, including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer—and raises the risk for severe illness with Covid-19.
“One of the biggest health challenges related to nutrition in this country is overweight and obesity,” says Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, chair of the nutrition department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who chaired the federal committee’s beverages and added sugars subcommittee.
Most Americans aren’t even limiting their added sugar to the current 10% guideline. Nearly two-thirds of people age 1 and older consumed more than 10% of their daily calories in added sugar, according to 2013-2016 data analyzed by the committee. The mean consumption is 13%.
More than 70% of U.S. adults ages 20 and older are overweight or obese, according to 2015-2016 figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 42% are obese, according to 2017-2018 CDC data. Nearly 14% of children ages 2 to 5 are obese, as are about 18% of 6-to-11-year-olds and about 21% of 12-to-19-year-olds. The subcommittee is recommending that toddlers under age 2 not consume any added sugar. These will be the first federal dietary guidelines to include recommendations for children under 2.
The new limit applies only to added sugars, found in processed foods from soda and pasta sauce to cereal and yogurt, as well as honey and sugar itself. The primary source of added sugars in Americans’ diets is sugar-sweetened beverages. A 16-ounce “grande” pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, for example, has 50 grams of sugar, or 10% of a 2,000 calorie diet. Other main sources are desserts, candy, coffee and tea with added sugar, and breakfast cereals and bars.
The committee isn’t discouraging intake of foods that naturally contain sugar, like fruit and milk, because it says those foods provide other nutritional benefits and that most Americans aren’t eating enough of them. Overall, the committee wants Americans to eat more foods that are included in diets associated with good health outcomes—which it says are rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean meat and poultry—and fewer foods linked to poor health, including sugar-sweetened foods and drinks, refined grains and large amounts of red meat. “The first concern is for people to choose a healthy diet that will promote their long-term health, growth and development,” says Dr. Mayer-Davis.
The new recommendation for added sugars is part of the process of a coming revision of the U.S. government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which is updated every five years. The committee released its recommendations in July; now the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services will review them and issue final guidelines by the end of the year.
Full Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-lim...=hp_lead_pos13