There are currently 100,000 children in Ireland who are obese and as a result of this parents are being urged to swap their child's sugary drinks for water.
The recommendation comes from Public Health England who say the main sources of sugar for kids are soft drinks and fruit juices.
The Irish Heart Foundation want to tackle the problem with a sugar tax, suggesting a tax of 20% be implanted on sugary drinks. The tax will help to prevent childhood obesity and 52% of the public support their campaign.
However, while the Irish Heart Foundation are calling for a sugar tax, Laura Thomas from Happy Sugar Habits believes it won’t impact everyone, suggesting banning kids from sugary drinks would be more effective, but also understands that in itself is not the solution to this problem.
While the government needs to tackle the on-going obesity problem, Thomas believes people also need to take responsibility for their own eating habits. Unfortunately, as Laura explains, it is very difficult to change their ways, especially if their sugar consumption is linked to emotional eating.
However, she said there are certain things parents can do to help their kids maintain good eating habits, in particular by setting good habits at a young age. Growing up on sugary drinks, Laura understands that water can seem boring in comparison to it, which makes it even more important to maintain good eating habits from an early age.
PHE recommends parents swap sugary drinks for water or milk and Laura suggests mums find “alternative snacks” and “introduce other things” like nuts, seeds, cherry tomatoes and even crudités with dip to curb sugar consumption.
