Dietary Plan Stops Short of Urging Less Sugar

A panel of nutrition experts proposed new U.S. dietary guidelines on Friday that acknowledge a link between soft drinks and weight gain, but stopped short of telling increasingly overweight America to eat less sugar.

A panel of nutrition experts proposed new U.S. dietary guidelines on Friday that acknowledge a link between soft drinks and weight gain, but stopped short of telling increasingly overweight America to eat less sugar.The 13-member panel, commissioned by the Bush administration, said “social changes” in America’s supersized lifestyle would help shrink the country’s waistline.It recommended Americans exercise more, eat less bad fats and reduce the size of portions, while suggesting that consuming less sugar may aid weight control.The panel’s report also blamed the lack of calorie information at restaurants and high cost of fruit and vegetables for contributing to an overweight society.Two-thirds of American adults are overweight and childhood obesity is ballooning. Obesity caused by poor diet and physical inactivity is blamed for 400,000 deaths a year and may soon overtake smoking as the No. 1 cause of preventable death.Consumer groups had hoped the panel would bluntly recommend that Americans limit their consumption of soft drinks and other sugary foods, a view sharply opposed by beverage makers and the sugar industry, who say weight gain is due to many factors.Past versions of the guidelines have included advice to watch sugar intake as one basic rule for healthy eating.Updated every five years by the Agriculture and Health departments, the guidelines are the basis of the food pyramid printed on food packages.Panelists recommended consumers choose fats and carbohydrates “wisely,” shunning saturated and trans fat in favor of more omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, and to limit salt and alcohol.The panel recommended carbohydrates rich in fiber, like fresh fruit and whole grains.And it advised that less than 1 percent of calories come from artery-clogging trans fat, an added ingredient in foods such bread and cooking oils.Tyson Foods Inc., Kraft Foods Inc., PepsiCo Inc. and other food companies have pledged to reduce trans fats in their products.”Given the negative impact these fats have on health, members companies are striving to formulate products that not only have little or no trans fat, but that also have lower levels of saturated fat,” said Mark Nelson, vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers of America.LESS SUGAR MAY EQUAL LESS WEIGHTThe experts stopped short of urging Americans to cut down on soft drinks, cakes, cookies, pies, candy and other sugar-filled food, saying more research was needed.”A reduced intake of added sugars (especially sugar-sweetened beverages) may be helpful in achieving recommended intakes of nutrients and in weight control,” the report said.”We were still hoping that in the final document the public sees a more direct and clearer message that most of us should be consuming less added sugars,” said David Schardt, senior nutritionist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.Soft drink makers and the sugar industry contend overeating and lack of exercise, not a particular food or beverage, are causing America’s widening girth.”The concept of sugars being in unhealthy foods or only being in foods that you should eat in moderation is kind of misleading. There is sugar in a lot of healthy foods,” said Cheryl Digges, director of public policy for the Sugar Association.The nutrition panel also urged Americans to balance food intake with activity levels to avoid gaining weight. People should exercise at least 30 minutes a day, and may need 60 minutes to avoid weight gain, it said.Final guidelines will be issued in early 2005.(Source: Reuters, August 2004)