A recent discovery has placed South Africa (behind Mexico) as second when it comes to deaths related to the consumption of sugary drinks. This shocking discovery was reported by Boston based Tufts University and was published in the journal circulation, it was said that sugary drinks may be traced to be the cause of an estimated 184,000 adult deaths every year all around the world.
Estimates were made from 62 dietary surveys that included 611,971 people, this was conducted between the year 1980 and 2010 across 51 countries, and data on national availability of sugar was also used.
With 405 per million adults’ death in Mexico, the highest in the world it tops the list of countries with the highest deaths related to sugar. Not only did South Africa rank second with 153 deaths per million adults, a separate research in journal Plos One in August reveals that an average South African consumes 165ml of fizzy drinks per day; this is especially alarming because it is well above the global average 133ml.
Another ranking by Bloomberg shows South Africa is one of the unhealthiest countries in the world and has the highest risk rating in the world. South Africa is the most obese country globally; there is widespread poverty, high levels of alcohol consumption, high level of violence and crime and even high level of HIV and related diseases. All these were considered in a research based on health score and risk score expressed as health grade. Apparently the world’s unhealthiest countries are African nations, in fact in the bottom 25 the only non-African country is Afghanistan. This is especially bad as most Africans don’t even have access to proper health care; most can’t afford time-to-time medical checkup. There is abject poverty across most African states. All these are factors responsible for low health grades in African countries.
Talking on the high sugar related death in South Africa one of the best ways to tackle this is to implement the sugar tax that was proposed in 2014. One might be wondering, will that reduce the consumption of sugar drinks? Well the introduction of sugar tax in Mexico has gone a long way in cutting the purchase of soda and other taxed drinks by ten percent. If you ask me, I will say there is no harm in trying.
According to CDC guide to strategies for reducing the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, the following strategies can be adopted to help reduce the intake of sugary drinks; Ready access to portable drinking water, I’ve heard quite a number of people say they crave sugary drinks when they are thirsty, the result is that these drinks don’t quench our thirst as expected but instead one is likely to go for more of the drink, little wonder why research placed the intake of fizzy drinks in South Africa as 165ml per day; that’s around 3 bottles of fizzy drinks per day. If portable drinking water is made available, there will be a drastic change in the rate at which people get thirsty hence lesser sugary drinks will be purchased.
The government should promote access to more healthful alternatives. In a situation whereby non-fizzy drinks are promoted, subsidized and made readily available to the citizens of South Africa, the number of people that patronize sugary drinks will reduce.
Screening and counseling about sugary drinks should be part of a routine medical care. Screening and advice from primary care providers as regard the consumption of sugary drink should be incorporate as part of routine medical and dental care visits in South Africa. The associated risks should be made known to the people.
Lastly the knowledge and skills of medical care providers should be expanded to conduct nutrition screening and counseling as regard sugary drinks consumption.
Written By: Jimoh Waliu
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