The charity’s head of nutrition, Dr Patricia Mucavele, said: “Excess sugar is one of the biggest threats to children’s nutrition – at the moment, they’re having two to three times more sugar than they should be for good health.
“Getting children and teenagers eating and drinking far less sugar is an enormous task, and PHE’s report highlights the huge scale and scope of the measures needed to make this happen.
“There are some strong foundations in place: national guidelines on food in childcare are getting children into healthier habits from a very young age, limiting the amount of sugar they eat when they’re at nursery, pre-school or with their childminder.
“And national school food standards have drastically reduced sugar levels in school meals – the average secondary school lunch contains around a third less sugar at lunchtime than it did than a decade ago.
“But in other places where we shop and eat, and for parents at home, it can feel almost impossible to navigate the claims food manufacturers and retailers make about food and drinks they market for children, the advertising techniques used and the prices at which these products are sold. It’s a part of our food culture that feels specifically designed to bamboozle.
“This report from PHE shows the strength of the evidence for action right now and for children’s health, that can’t come soon enough.”
Read more on Public Health England’s findings here.