Sugar-sweetened foods and beverages like commercially available cookies, granola bars, fruit drinks, sports drinks, and soft drinks typically contain high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is a liquid sweetener used to replace common table sugar in food manufacturing. It has been extensively used by the food industry since the 1960's because of its practicality and availability.
However, in the recent years, numerous studies showed that increased consumption of sugar-sweetened food and beverages is linked to overweight and obesity among children and adults, and to consequent development of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes. The World Health Organization (2015) said that sugar-sweetened food and beverages can increase overall energy intake and may reduce consumption of foods containing more nutritionally adequate calories which leads to unhealthy diet and weight gain.
Based on the results of the 2013 National Nutrition Survey, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has steadily increased in the last two decades. Among adults, the prevalence almost doubled from 16.6% in 1993 to 31.1% in 2013. Among preschool children, the prevalence was below 2.0% from 1989 to 1998 but gradually increased to 4.9% in 2013. For children 5.08 to 10 years old, the prevalence is higher at 5.8% in 2003 and has remained at 5% in 2013. Among the 10.08 to 19 years age group, the prevalence has increased from 5.8% in 2003 to 8.3% in 2013. Overweight and obesity is strongly associated with having NCDs particularly type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and cancer.
The WHO strongly recommends a reduced intake of free sugars (e.g. HFCS) throughout the life course. It also recommends an intake of free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake for the day.
Likewise, the NNC promotes the 10 Kumainments which is the popular version of the Nutritional Guidelines for Filipinos. The 10 Kumainments contains messages that promote positive nutrition behaviors. Specifically, Kumainment number 8 states "Hinay-hinay sa maaalat, mamantika at matatamis," which calls for reduced intake of salty, fatty and sugary foods and beverages. The NNC encourages food manufacturers to minimize the use of HFCS and to include proper nutrition label for the information of consumers. NNC also advocates for the enactment of a legislation to increase taxes of sugar-sweetened beverages to help curb excessive consumption.
Therefore, the NNC urges the public to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened foods and beverages to reduce the risk of overweight and obesity and development of NCDs.