The impact of high-fat and sugary food

The impact of added sugars
Added sugars come from foods such as confectionery, soft drinks, and preserves. An article in the Journal of Pediatrics published in 2003 suggests that the increase in consumption of sugary soft drinks may be stoking the rise in obesity.

Studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition between the 1990 and 2002 have shown that when volunteers are offered either sugar-rich, artificially sweetened drinks or water they still eat the same amount of foods at a subsequent meal. With the result that the group consuming sugar rich drinks took in more calories per day than the other two groups.

King-sized foods and BOGOF
Portion sizes of foods have been increasing steadily: there are now larger - even king sizes - available for various foods.

Individual bags of crisps used to be available in small packs of 25g, now there are packs that are more than double that. These larger portions are proportionately cheaper than standard packs. Buy one get one free (BOGOF) offers also add to the increasing risk of us eating more than we need.

Food labelling: cause for confusion?
There are three areas you need to look at if you're going to get any useful information from food labels.

1. Serving size: Look at the number of calories or fat in each serving. For example, nutritional information is often only given per 100g, and a portion will often be more than that. For example, a ready meal may be labelled as containing 168kcal and 8g fat per 100g but a serving will often be around 260g and so you'll actually be consuming 437kcal and 21g fat!

2. Fat-free: A product can be labelled as 'fat-free' if it contains less than 0.5g of fat per sizing. Many people will be duped into thinking fat-free means they simply can eat more so they end up eating double the amount and hence more calories and fat. Also, fat-free doesn't mean sugar-free, often these foods are high in added sugars.

3. Sugar-free: Sugar-free products often contain higher amounts of fat.

Processed foods and trans fats?
Like saturated fats, trans fats can raise the amount of 'bad' or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, in the blood and lower the amount of 'good' high-density lipoprotein, or 'good' cholesterol.

Trans fats increases the risk of people developing heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Trans fats are formed when liquid oils are changed into solids in order to increase the shelf life of foods and stabilise the flavour. They are also found naturally in beef and dairy products.

Trans fats are contained in processed snack foods and baked goods like biscuits, pies and cakes. On food labels, they are labelled as partially hydrogenated (vegetable) oils.