Analysis of Sugar Consumption's Impact on Children's Health in NZ

This report delves into the critical issue of sugar consumption and its adverse effects on children's health, particularly in New Zealand. It highlights the alarming rise in childhood health problems such as heart diseases, cancer, diabetes, and sleep disorders, directly linked to excessive sugar intake promoted by aggressive marketing strategies. The report references several studies, including those by Wojcicki & Medrano (2017), Miles & Siega-Riz (2017), and Tatlow-Golden (2017), to underscore the severity of the issue. While acknowledging the implementation of policies like food labeling, WHO guidelines, and restrictions on unhealthy food marketing, the report emphasizes the need for more comprehensive measures, such as taxation and stricter sugar-reduction policies. The conclusion stresses the importance of continuous efforts to curb sugar consumption, advocating for further actions to safeguard children's health and well-being.

Running Head: SUGAR IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN
SUGAR IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN
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SUGAR IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN
Introduction
Sugar is killing our children, but the world is giving a blind eye to this fact. Increased
sugar consumption is arising from powerful marketing and advertising strategies that affected
children’s consumption, purchase requests and food preferences.
Discussion
Research shows that a lot of children have suffered heart diseases, cancer, diabetes,
liver diseases, sleep disorders, high blood pressure, asthma and eventual death as a result of
nagging adverts, predatory marketing among other causes (Wojcicki & Medrano, 2017).
Research shows that 11% of children aged 2 to 14 in New Zealand are obese while others are
suffering other harmful effects of excessive sugar consumption.
However, the good news is awesome policies, rules and regulations have been put
forward in New Zealand to reduce the amount of sugar consumed by children (Tatlow-
Golden, 2017). Firstly, food manufacturers are required to label their foods indicating how
much sugar content is in the food. Secondly, World Health Organization policy that sugar
intake for children should be reduced to not more than six teaspoonfuls per day has been
employed (Miles & Siega-Riz, 2017). The last and most important, New Zealand have
endorsed a policy of restriction and reduction of unhealthy food marketing to children.
While these policies have reduced consumption of sugar by New Zealand children,
they are not wholly successful and thus the presence of some loopholes that need to be shut.
As a result, more policies ought to be explored because the existing ones have not completely
dealt with the menace.
As a special nutrition scholar therefore, I would recommend more to be done to
reduce the amount of sugar consumed by New Zealand children. Even though much has been
done, the amount of sugar consumed is still high calling for new avenues and ways to reduce

SUGAR IS KILLING OUR CHILDREN
this consumption like imposing heavy taxes on policy breakers, setting sugar-reduction policy
on manufactured foods among others.
Conclusively, if sugar consumption by New Zealand children has to be reduced, more
has to be done.
References
Miles, G., & Siega-Riz, A. (2017). Trends in food and beverage consumption among infants
and toddlers. Pediatrics, 54-58.
Tatlow-Golden, M. (2017). A safe glimpse within the “black box”? Ethical and legal
principles when assessing digital marketing of food and drink to children.
PANORAMA, 22-32.
Wojcicki, J., & Medrano, R. (2017). Increased Cellular Aging by 3 Years of Age in Latino,
Preschool Children Who Consume More Sugar-Sweetened Beverages. Childhood
Obesity, 34-40.