Leading health experts have released an eight-point plan to help combat rising rates of metabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes.
Three of the world’s top cardiologists have come together and released a report in a bid to create a healthier culture.
Led by NHS consultant cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, they have compared the impact that sugar has on our health to how tobacco and smoking affected people more than 50 years ago.
The collaboration included Professor Robert Lustig of the University of California San Francisco and Professor Grant Schofield of Auckland University of Technology.
The report states: “We should not wait decades to solve our current problems with sugar. Big tobacco sowed doubt that cigarettes were harmful, confused the public, persistently denied their effects, bought the loyalty of scientists and gave ammunition to political allies.
“Now, the science demonstrating sugar’s role in diet-related disease is incontrovertible, but science alone cannot curb the obesity and type 2 epidemics. Opposition from vested interests that profit from diminishing society’s health must be overcome.”
In a bid to prevent global health getting worse, they are calling for a number of changes. All companies who are associated with sugary foods to be banned from sponsoring sporting events, the UK sugary drinks tax to be extended to all foods containing added sugars and all government subsidies on unhealthy commodity crops like sugar beet to be stopped.
Dr Malhotra said: “For years, soft drinks companies’ public relations machinery have pushed the lack of physical activity as a cause of obesity when there is evidence to reveal that although sedentary lifestyle contributes to chronic disease physical activity, impact is minimal at best and you cannot outrun a bad diet.”
The report has been published in the Insulin Resistance journal.

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