Data highlights decline in hospital sugary drinks

Having challenged trusts to reduce the sale of sugar-filled drinks to 10 per cent or less on hospital premises, NHS England has revealed that the proportion of such drinks has been dramatically cut from 15.6 per cent to 8.7 per cent.

Through the action undertaken by nine out of ten trusts, the equivalent of 1.1 million cans of fizzy drink, roughly 39,000 kilos of sugar and over 160,000,000 fewer calories have been removed from canteens, shops and vending machines on NHS premises.

The current sugar reduction scheme will remain in place for the rest of the year as part of the 2018/19 NHS healthy food and drink incentive programme, with all trusts expected to sign up this autumn. At present, 14 leading national retailers have signed up to the NHS health drive to tackle the impact of the country’s sweet tooth, with Boots the latest to comply.

Simon Stevens, chief executive at NHS England said: “The NHS is now putting its own house in order in the fight against flab – with the vast majority of hospitals answering the call to action. Obesity is one of the biggest long term challenges facing us as the NHS enters its eighth decade, so action now will avoid storing up a long list of preventable and expensive health problems for the years ahead.”