With governments around the world looking at imposing taxes on sugary foods, we would do well to remember that many scientists suggest that we are primed to desire sugar at an instinctive level as it plays such a vital role in our survival. 
Our sense of taste has evolved to covet the molecules vital to life like salt, fat and sugar, they say, even when we know it would be healthier not to. And that’s the problem that contributes towards obesity.
The head of Public Health England, Duncan Selbie, has been asked to appear in front of the Commons Health Select Committee next week as MPs say they need to see the PHE report on sugar reduction to make recommendations ahead of the government’s new child obesity strategy.
According to the BBC, vital evidence is being withheld about the merits of a tax, and this report is part of that evidence.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said the child obesity strategy will now be published later this year, along with PHE’s report looking at how to curb the nation’s sweet tooth, which includes evidence on fiscal measures relating to sugar-sweetened drinks as well as advertising of foods to children.
The head of the Commons Health Select committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston, has accused Public Health England of obstructing its inquiry into child obesity by refusing to publish the report.
Obesity among children is of growing concern in the UK and children born since the 1980s were up to three times more likely than older generations to be overweight or obese by the age of 10, recent studies show.
Latest figures for England suggest 20% of children joining primary school are now obese or overweight.
Society’s tricky relationship with sugar starts at birth, as we are born with a sweet tooth, according to the BBC while a recent study from Washington University, found that newborns have a distinct preference for sweet flavours over other flavours. It added that children enjoy sugary foods far more than adults.
Many scientists believe a child’s preference for sweet things is an evolutionary hangover, as youngsters who preferred high-calorie foods in times gone by would have had a better chance of survival when food sources were unreliable.
The problem now is that refined sugar is too readily available and this could be part of the reason why childhood obesity rates have soared.
But all is not lost as weight management through hypnotherapy can help reduce sugar addiction by controlling what and how we eat.
The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH), says managing weight loss is one of the most effective results of hypnotherapy.
“Rather than just reducing calories that you are likely to put on again in the longer term, hypnosis gets you in touch with the reasons why you unconsciously eat. If you are the type of person that struggles to stop after a small piece of chocolate,” says the NCH.
“Hypnotherapy can also help you reduce portion sizes so you lose weight healthily, steadily and for the long term. Losing weight with hypnosis is essentially about teaching you to feel good about yourself, whatever size you are. It focuses on making healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle that will remain with you for the rest of your life.”
According to the NHS, added sugars shouldn’t make up more than 10% of the energy you get from food and drink each day. This is whether it comes from honey, fruit juice and jam, or soft drinks, processed foods or table sugar.
Bizarrely, scientists have found even just the taste of sugar can give our brains a boost. Tests have shown that participants who swill water sweetened by sugar around their mouths perform better on mental tasks than when they gargle artificially sweetened water.