Thais growing increasingly fond of sugar
Thais consume up to 20-25 teaspoons of sugar a day, according to a 2011 report - two teaspoons above the previous year and about quadruple the recommendation of six teaspoons.
Piyathida Prasertsom, manager of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation’s Sweet Enough Network, said yesterday that in 2001, consumption was 19.9 teaspoons a day.
One teaspoon equals four grams.
Children under 6, whose recommended intake was four teaspoons a day, actually ate 10, while school kids who should take six teaspoons were swallowing 12-13.
Besides lobbying for taxes on beverage manufacturers according to the quantity of sugar in their drinks, with a public opinion poll to be conducted on the tax proposal, the network also aims to invite drink and snack manufacturers to help the network’s campaign to boost the population’s health.
The network was focusing on sweetened drinks because they were the main source of kids’ sugar intake. Each child drank about 300cc-400cc a day.
The network had already succeeded in convincing 70 per cent of schools nationwide to ban the sale of carbonated beverages and in five years all schools would do so, Piyathida said.
