Nutrition Foundation nutritionist Sarah Hanrahan says Kiwis are clearly confused about what is in the food they eat – and are paying the price with weight gain.
“The 2008/09 Adult Nutrition survey showed that in reality New Zealanders consume between 24 – 30 teaspoons of sugar per day – which is way above these estimates. If only 4% of people think they’re eating this amount daily there’s a long way to go before we start to tackle our obesity problem.
“Sugars occurring naturally in foods like milk and fruit have valuable nutrients and aren’t the problem, it is the added sugars in processing causing concern. For many people a lot of added sugar in their diet comes from packaged foods, including cereals, soft drinks, sauces and snack foods.
“Eating more wholefoods and cutting back on heavily processed foods can be a good step toward reducing sugar intake.”
Southern Cross Healthcare Group spokesperson Aimee Bourke says the health implications of a sugar-heavy diet are dire.
“New Zealand as a country is getting fatter - one in four Kiwis have a BMI that categorises them as obese. At the same time we’re seeing a rise in chronic conditions such as diabetes, stroke, cancer, heart disease, and excess sugar intake is linked to all these.”
Ends.
Editor note: Conducted by TNS the online survey of 2002 randomly selected New Zealanders was carried out in November 2015.
| How many teaspoons or processed sugar do you think you and the average New Zealander would eat or drink each day |
Total |
Male |
Female |
Under 40 |
Over 40 |
|
Myself |
|||||
|
Less than 5 teaspoons |
41% |
39% |
42% |
26% |
52% |
|
5 to 9 teaspoons |
26% |
27% |
25% |
30% |
22% |
|
10 to 14 teaspoons |
13% |
13% |
14% |
17% |
10% |
|
15 to 19 teaspoons |
5% |
4% |
6% |
9% |
2% |
|
20 or more teaspoons |
4% |
5% |
4% |
5% |
4% |
|
Not sure |
11% |
12% |
10% |
12% |
9% |
|
Total |
2002 |
737 |
1265 |
820 |
1182 |
|
The average New Zealander |
|||||
|
Less than 5 teaspoons |
6% |
8% |
4% |
6% |
6% |
|
5 to 9 teaspoons |
14% |
14% |
13% |
14% |
13% |
|
10 to 14 teaspoons |
24% |
23% |
25% |
23% |
25% |
|
15 to 19 teaspoons |
20% |
19% |
21% |
24% |
17% |
|
20 or more teaspoons |
17% |
15% |
19% |
17% |
16% |
|
Not sure |
20% |
21% |
18% |
15% |
23% |
|
Total |
2002 |
737 |
1265 |
820 |
1182 |