In the papers: sugar

A 20% sugar tax, slashing the sweet stuff in processed food products and stricter store promotions is just a snippet of the eight point plan recommended by Public Health England in their battle to banish our nation's obesity crisis, but do these stricter rules resemble a realistic approach to curbing our cravings for sugar fuelled sweet treats?

Although the simplicity of a sugar tax may have proven to be a successful solution to slashing the sweet stuff in Mexico, our candy loving country is not only renowned for rebelling against strategic rules and regimes, but bursting with Brits who are susceptible to consuming up to three times more than their daily recommended sugar intake - a sure sign that addictive added sugar will require more than just a 20% sugar tax to tame our nations sweet tooth.

In fact, similar to drugs, smoking and alcohol, many of us have developed a habitual taste for the sweet stuff that resembles an alarming addiction and the realisation that our struggle to sustain the self discipline not to succumb to sugar fuelled sweet treats is more than just a physical problem - it's our psychological perception of tasty treats that's responsible for our failure to put our health before the happiness and habit that stem from our staggering sugar intake.

Will subjecting our nation to a 20% sugar tax prove to be a successful solution to a complex psychological problem? No. Working with manufactures to ensure that they slash the sweet stuff pumped into food and drink products, creating clear nutritional labels that state the sugar content of a food or drink source in teaspoons as opposed to grams and educating our country about the detrimental consequences of excess sugar consumption, will. Why? Because unless we're forced to change our unhealthy habits via the help of food manufacturers and shock value, the health, NHS, life expectancy and waistline of our sugar loving nation will continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate.