Average Thai consumes 26 teaspoons of sugar per day: officials

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Average Thai consumes 26 teaspoons of sugar per day: officials

By Coconuts Bangkok

BANGKOK:-- Officials revealed today that an average Thai consumes about 26 teaspoons of sugar per day with most people getting their daily dose from sweet beverages.

As World Diabetes Day is approaching, Thai Health officials unveiled its campaign, "Flat-tummy Thais," and encouraged citizens to consume less sugar.

Twenty-six teaspoons or about 104 grams of sugar is four times more than the recommended amount of 6 spoonfuls per day. According to the survey, most Thais get their sugar from beverages such as soft drinks (9 teaspoons per serving), green tea (13 teaspoons), coffee (10 teaspoons), said Dr. Sutha Jiaramaneechotechai, deputy director of the Health Department.

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/11/04/average-thai-consumes-26-teaspoons-sugar-day-officials

-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-11-04

[ChrisY1]

And the Thais always commented on the beer guts of fat Farangs............now Thai kids have big guts.....but don't ever comment!

[TheCruncher]

most Thais get their sugar from beverages such as soft drinks (9 teaspoons per serving), green tea (13 teaspoons),

And yet the sugar free versions of those beverages are invisible in Thailand for most of the time

[MESmith]

No added sugar in my coffee

[TheCruncher]

And the Thais always commented on the beer guts of fat Farangs............now Thai kids have big guts.....but don't ever comment!

My sons Thai cousin ( 10 year old) stayed in Pattaya during the latest school holidays.

I think he gained about 15 kilo in the past year.

He stayed at my place, together with my son, during a weekend.

The next weekend he didn't want to come any more, because the food wasn't up to standard.

I gave the whole wheat sandwich with egg and sugar free milk in the morning, spaghetti with Tuna for lunch and Riceberry with vegetables and steamed chicken for dinner.

My son's mom agreed that I shouldn't feed such mediocre food to a child.

[jaltsc]

"Thai Health officials unveiled its campaign, "Flat-tummy Thais," and encouraged citizens to consume less sugar."

Like they encourage minivan drivers not to speed. Like they encourage students not to cheat off the smart kid. Like they encourage those in power not to corrupt the judicial system. Like they....You get the picture. Next year there will be more obesity and and type II diabetes among the populace and the government will come out with another program that consists of "Please don't eat so much sugar". One more term not found in the Thai language is: "Follow Through".

Edited November 4, 2015 by jaltsc

[Bluespunk]

Anyone who has 26 spoonfuls a day is being consumed by sugar rather than consuming it.

[bubblegum]

Just 2.5 Cokes!

[simon43]

So are there any drinks sold at 7/11 that are 'healthy' and do not contain sugar, carbohydrates etc.

All I see are sweetened drinks.

Any specific drinks/brands to look out for?

[Prbkk]

So are there any drinks sold at 7/11 that are 'healthy' and do not contain sugar, carbohydrates etc.

All I see are sweetened drinks.

Any specific drinks/brands to look out for?

I can't think of any food or beverage sold in 7/11 that would be regarded as healthy ( except water, maybe almonds).

One of the drinks sold at Starbucks has more than the daily calorie intake for average Thai. The iiced coffee/condensed milk abomination sold be street vendors is probably almost as bad.

[SoilSpoil]

So are there any drinks sold at 7/11 that are 'healthy' and do not contain sugar, carbohydrates etc.

All I see are sweetened drinks.

Any specific drinks/brands to look out for?

Water

[petedk]

Only today did I notice a young student pour 4 or 5 desert spoonfuls of sugar in her noodles. (I would gues that is more than 10 teaspoons of sugar).

No wonder Thai girls are so sweet.

Joke aside. It is also a problem in the UK and the government are trying to introduce a sugar tax. The average intake of sugar there for 11 to 18 year olds is 74.2g per day. 1 teaspoon is about 4 gms, so that is about 18 teaspoons a day.

It is probably a world wide problem.

[clockman]

Diabetes will become endemic !

[doremifasol]

I used to love Thai food but I do not enjoy it anymore.

Fried rice is sweet, soups are sweet, especially those with curry,

stir fried veggies are sweet and the oil in it tastes petrol,

everything is sweet or stuffed with MSG. Now even the (fake) crab sticks are sweet.

I cook at home from scratch now but honestly, I would like to enjoy some

traditional Thai food every once in a while.

In Bangkok it might be another story, there are so many choices available.

Not here where I live though.

[slipperylobster]

at this rate..they will soon equal western levels of sugar consumption !!!

[Jeremy50]

Sugar is a nutrient, but fructose is far better than the processed type. Any fatty that you see wobbling around is likely to be eating a high fat diet combined with too much processed sugar, unfortunately the fat and sweet combination is a feature of Thai cooking.

However, the real killer is a sedentary lifestyle. Look at the Thais who work in the fields all day, or on construction sites, not many fat ones, but I bet they all eat loads of sugar.

[bangrak]

Do the daily 26 teaspoons of 'sugar' include the MSG Thais call... 'sugar' too, and richly pour into/over every bit of food they eat...? Oh, and hush about the burning palm oil they stand on frying stuff in... The pesticides and other chemicals they spray on vegetables, after tossing the instructions and measure included in the package, using doses 10 or 20 times too high... And wait until someone will dare to start looking for hormones and antibiotics in shrimps, poultry and pork...

The ones who produce the stuff don't care, there also it's all about money and greed, no wonder the people anywhere involved in agro business don't eat the s..t themselves, when they have a chance to avoid it...

A-roy, na-kap? Hmm, chai kap...

[JoeLing]

Twenty-six teaspoons or about 104 grams of sugar is four times more than the

recommended amount of 6 spoonfuls per day.

According to the survey, most Thais get their sugar from beverages such as

soft drinks (9 teaspoons per serving),

green tea (13 teaspoons),

coffee (10 teaspoons),

said Dr. Sutha Jiaramaneechotechai, deputy director of the Health Department

The usual Thai nonsense by the so highly qualified professionals.

Not very bright heads, are they?

Not quite sure why they mention that 26 teaspoons are about 4 times more

than the recommended amount of 6 spoonful per day?

Maybe 32 is an unlucky number

.

Edited November 4, 2015 by JoeLing

[Thian]

No added sugar in my coffee

Fat sweet condensed milk is even worse and the Thai drink loads of that.

[Prbkk]

Sugar is a nutrient, but fructose is far better than the processed type. Any fatty that you see wobbling around is likely to be eating a high fat diet combined with too much processed sugar, unfortunately the fat and sweet combination is a feature of Thai cooking.

However, the real killer is a sedentary lifestyle. Look at the Thais who work in the fields all day, or on construction sites, not many fat ones, but I bet they all eat loads of sugar.

Actually fructose is part of the problem as well and we have all been conned into believing that things like fruit juice are seriously healthy...but in fact even orange juice contains something like 8 teaspoons of sugar, not much less for Apple juice. They are concentrated sugar drinks. While eating the fruit, in moderation, does no harm, drinking the juice to excess is almost as bad as drinking soda/coke.

It is one of the most successful con jobs of marketing.

[Thian]

So are there any drinks sold at 7/11 that are 'healthy' and do not contain sugar, carbohydrates etc.

All I see are sweetened drinks.

Any specific drinks/brands to look out for?

Yes sir, it's called water and is even cheaper then the sweet drinks. Also you can buy orange juice on the street but the price is up to the length of your nose.

[Shawn0001]

Twenty-six teaspoons or about 104 grams of sugar is four times more than the recommended amount of 6 spoonfuls per day.

It is four times what WHO recommend, 25g, but in the UK the MAFF provided Daily Guideline Intake for sugar is 90g.

[Thai at Heart]

The price of sugar at the shop is controlled by the thai government. They are basically keeping the price below market price. They are encouraging obesity and diabetes. How is that for a cookie policy?

[MESmith]

No added sugar in my coffee

Fat sweet condensed milk is even worse and the Thai drink loads of that.

None of that crap in my coffee, either

[Thian]

Only today did I notice a young student pour 4 or 5 desert spoonfuls of sugar in her noodles. (I would gues that is more than 10 teaspoons of sugar).

No wonder Thai girls are so sweet.

Joke aside. It is also a problem in the UK and the government are trying to introduce a sugar tax. The average intake of sugar there for 11 to 18 year olds is 74.2g per day. 1 teaspoon is about 4 gms, so that is about 18 teaspoons a day.

It is probably a world wide problem.

One day my wife had a lunch with my mother in Europe. She got a slice of wholeweat bread with 1 slice of ham, and butter.

She's still making fun of it....

Just look what Thai kids eat in Sizzlers at the saladbar. It's a mountain of bacon, quael-eggs and mayonaise....and mummy thinks its okay and also let's them run around like drunken chickens.

[Shawn0001]

at this rate..they will soon equal western levels of sugar consumption !!!

Actually that puts Thailand in 2nd place in the world behind the USA at 126g and in front of Germany and Holland both at 102g.

[JoeLing]

So are there any drinks sold at 7/11 that are 'healthy' and do not contain sugar, carbohydrates etc.

All I see are sweetened drinks.

Any specific drinks/brands to look out for?

Yes sir, it's called water and is even cheaper then the sweet drinks. Also you can buy orange juice on the street but the price is up to the length of your nose.

Up to 60% of the human body is water.

The brain and heart are composed of 73% water.

The lungs are about 83% water.

Maybe our deputy health minister drinks too much of that stuff.

With so much of water in her brain, I suppose she has no capacity

to add 13 + 10 + 9

BTW - People drown in water

[JoeLing]

at this rate..they will soon equal western levels of sugar consumption !!!

Actually that puts Thailand in 2nd place in the world behind the USA at 126g and in front of Germany and Holland both at 102g.

Well if, as you say, Americans consume 126 gr of sugar a day,

then the USA is 2nd place behind Thailand .

Edited November 4, 2015 by JoeLing

[zakk9]

at this rate..they will soon equal western levels of sugar consumption !!!

Actually that puts Thailand in 2nd place in the world behind the USA at 126g and in front of Germany and Holland both at 102g.

Well if, what you say, Americans consume 126 gr of sugar a day,

then the USA is 2nd place behind first place Thailand .

Remember also that the average Thai is around 160cm tall and has a "natural" weight somewhere between 40 and 55 kg. Every intake of nutrition must be seen in relation to the body weight.

Some of the bottled ice teas, like the Oishi yellow cap, contains more sugar per milliliter than Coke.

But things are only getting worse. A 4 year old kid in my neighbourhood has a bottle with some red, sweet stuff attached to her mouth most of the day. Her mother says that the kid will get angry if she can't have her bottle of sweet water. Yes, she does have the shape of a barrel already, and she's not alone.

[oldsailor35]

Are'nt those little square brown bottles by Red Bull a little on the sweet side, not to mention that sickly sweet SPY which bar girls seem to like .