“So it’s 25 sugar cubes in box.”

 

And it is at times surprising. 

 

“The drink has shocked me. I don’t think it’s been that much. And these cereals…”

 

The new app called “Sugar Smart” means parents can scan and track how much their children are consuming. And for her sons Aaron and Ben, Becky believes it’s useful.

 

“The sugar in everything, all products, even I know there is sugar, I arrange sugar in(?). It is harder to read the labels - that makes it a lot easier to understand how much sugar is in them. And so...but I don’t think I would use it in a supermarket and scan everything. That would be far too much to deal with."

 

The app’s part of the public health England campaign called “Change4Life”, prompted by these statistics:

 

Over year, all the kids eat and drink a whapping 5543 sugar cubes. That’s 22 packs of sugar. That’s more than a kid like me weighs, and I’m five. 

 

"Children in Britain are eating far too much sugar - three times more than the recommended amount. And that is causing them real harm. Almost half of 8-year-olds have tooth decay, a third of 11-year-olds are be so or over weight. So we as parents need to think about helping our kids to cut down the amount of sugar they consume.”

 

“This fat can cause serious disease as we grow older, including Type 2 diabetes, X and even heart disease.

 

But the National Obesity Forum say the smartphone app and the campaign overall doesn’t go far enough. 

 

"I think shock tactics is the way we have to go. We’ve spent 25 years being namby pamby and very gentle with our information. That hasn't worked. We ought to do something now which really pulls people up short and says: ' If you do that, this will be the consequence'.”

 

For Becky however, the app worked. She will now use it as a guideline. But the next challenge -- getting the kids on board too.

 

Adele Robinson, Sky News.