Diabetes: Nigeria ranks 4th in consumption of soft drinks — Experts

Experts have on Thursday, said Nigeria ranks 4th in the world for the highest consumers of Sugar Sweetened Beverages, SSBs, also known as soft drinks.

Executive Director, Project PINK BLUE, Runcie Chidebe, disclosed this during the global week of action for non-communicable diseases with the theme: “Invest in NCDs today, save lives and money tomorrow,” in Abuja.

Chidebe, represented by the Programme Coordinator, Project PINK BLUE, Gloria Okwu, said the World Health Organization, WHO, recommends that individuals take less than 10 cubes of sugar per day as a 35cl bottle contains as much as nine cubes of sugar.

She said, “Nigeria is the world’s 4th highest consumer of SSBs commonly known as soft drinks. An estimated 38.6 million litres of soft drinks are sold in Nigeria annually. Of particular concern is overconsumption among adolescents as indicated in a study where 97 percent of the 1,000 respondents consumed at least 35cl of soft drink daily. A 35cl bottle may contain as much as nine cubes of sugar, while the WHO recommends that individuals should take less than 10 cubes per day.”

She alluded that uncontrolled sugar intake could lead to other health conditions, like cancer, kidney diseases.

“People who consume one or two drink a day have a 26 percent chance of developing type 2 diabetes than people who rarely drink them. The consumption of Sugar Sweetened Beverages like soft drinks has been implicated in eleven cancers and there is strong evidence that being overweight or obese increases the risk of ten cancers: bowel (colorectal):

gallbladder, kidney, liver; oesophagus: ovary: pancreas, prostate (advanced): postmenopausal breast and womb (endometrial),” She stated.

Speaking in the same vein, Vice President, Nigerian Cancer Society, Comrade Elijah Elijah, said that in 2021, Nigeria accounted for 3.6 million diabetic patients, with those numbers expected to rise to 4.9 million by 2030.