Responding to rising concerns about obesity and health issues among children, the UK

Government has advised manufacturers to reduce the added sugar content in key product ranges that have been identified to be the major sources of sugar in children’s diets: baked products (cakes, cereal bars, biscuits, pastries), yoghurt, chocolate, and sweet spreads(1). Soft drinks were excluded in this review due to significant progress in this area(2). This study aimed to review the total sugar content in these key food products, in major supermarkets, popular children’s cookbooks, and website resources used by parents of children aged 6 months–5 years in the UK.

This cross-sectional market analysis study was conducted between January 2023 and March 2024.

1. 1. Reviewed the total sugar content in these key product ranges from five major UK supermarketsand compared these findings with data from previous research(3).

2. 2. Analysed the same products from a website resource and 10 children’s cookbooks, eithermentioned by previously interviewed parents6 or UK bestsellers on Amazon7, as cooking is important in combating obesity but relies on ensuring popular recipes fit within healthy eating guidelines(4).

Supermarket product total sugar content was determined by back-of-pack labelling(3). Nutritics software was utilised for total sugar analysis of the selected recipes(5).

A total of 440 products were analysed from the supermarkets, 115 recipes from children’s cookbooks and 50 recipes from the BBC Good Food site. Supermarket chocolate and cake products contained the most total sugar per 100g ranging from 14-68g/100g (mean 51.79± 10.06g/100g) for chocolate and 27-71g/100g (mean 37.41 ±8.50/100g) for cake. Yoghurt contained the lowest amounts of sugar (1.9-19g/100g mean 9.11±3.88g/100g). Cereal bars, often believed to be healthy were found to be medium to high in sugar 7.3-45g/100g (mean 25.99±7.28g/100g).

These preliminary findings indicate a slight reduction in the average total sugar content of the reviewed supermarket products compared to 2016 levels3. However, a significant proportion of supermarket products (57.5%) and recipes still exceed the government’s high sugar threshold of 22.5g/100g1. More than 85% of cakes in children’s cookbooks and 60% of cakes on BBC Good Food website have high sugar. Overall products and recipes classified as low in sugar (5g or less per 100g) remain limited, with the majority out of the 605 combined products and recipes, 55%, contained high sugar, 38% medium sugar and 7% low sugar content.

Many key food products and recipes intended for children remain high in sugar, highlighting a need for further reformulation/healthier recipe modifications. The persistence of high sugar content in children’s diets highlights the complexity of addressing UK childhood obesity levels.