Adults and children should reduce their daily intake of ‘free sugars’ to less than 10% of total calories, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised. A further reduction to below 5%—or roughly 6 teaspoons per day in a typical 2,000-calorie diet—would provide additional health benefits, a press release issued by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) yesterday said.
According to the release, new guidelines from the WHO and published yesterday, were developed according to WHO’s rigorous process for guideline development and are based on the latest scientific evidence, with input from leading scientists from around the world and feedback through an open global consultative process. “Sugar is not an essential nutrient, and solid evidence shows that it can actually be harmful by contributing to overweight, obesity and tooth decay,” said Dr. Enrique Jacoby, advisor on healthy eating and active living at PAHO. “These guidelines will help countries develop policies and actions to reduce consumption of sugars to improve people’s health.”
‘Free sugars’, the release said, refer to monosaccharides (such as glucose and fructose) and disaccharides (such as sucrose or table sugar) that are added to foods and drinks by the
