New campaign aims to tackle obesity and tooth decay among children and adults in Sheffield

The five-year campaign, called ‘Sheffield is Sweet Enough’, was launched at Woodthorpe Community Primary School on February 4, and aims to raise awareness of the negative impact of sugar which can put us at risk of developing tooth decay and health conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

It is being run by Sheffield Council and its partners including the NHS, Learn Sheffield, and weight management services, who will be sharing helpful facts, tips and advice.

Woodthorpe Primary was chosen for the launch as it sits in a Sheffield suburb with a higher rate of obesity and dental decay.

Headteacher Dave Smith said: “We’re hoping to educate the children and the community about how they should be modifying their eating habits to become even healthier than they already are. Firstly, it will benefit the children by raising their awareness of the sugar content in different foods which will then help them to make more informed choices about what they eat.”

Studies show that almost one in four children are overweight or obese when they start school in Sheffield, with one in three falling into that category when they leave school.

There are also more children in the city being admitted to hospital for painful tooth extractions or tooth decay than ever before.

Within schools, children will become sugar detectives and teachers will be given resources to teach them about hidden sugars within the food we eat so they can share this information with their family and friends.

Sarah Hepworth, health improvement principal at Sheffield Council, said: “What we want to do is support people to understand how much sugar is too much. It can be very confusing out there, food labels aren’t always clear so we developed the Sheffield is Sweet Enough website with lots of information on for parents, pregnant women and for children and that identifies the limits that Public Health England recommends.”

The website also has information on healthy sugar swaps and recommended daily allowances for every age.

Ms Hepworth added: “This is the first step, it is not about bashing people around sugar it’s about saying ‘this is how we can support each other to cut down together’, it’s about changing the food environment – we are against it with the obesogenic food environment. What we want to do is think about workplaces, schools, cafes and look at how we can change that together.”