“Sugar in childhood linked with dementia in older age” screamed the headline. My children were eating ice cream at the time. It felt like a warning.
The headline was referring to a study comparing young children from conception until the age of two, born during rationing in England and those born just after it had stopped. When sugar rationing ended in England in September 1953, the average person’s sugar intake rose from an average 41g a day up to 80g, almost overnight. Now researchers have found that those who were babies and toddlers during rationing had a 23 per cent lower chance of developing dementia.
While the message about sugar is valid, the study itself is inherently flawed, says Dr Federica Amati, author and chief nutritionist for Zoe. “Nobody had their sugar intake measured. The comparison isn’t about diet; it’s about date of birth relative to a government policy. And this particular birth cohort is only in its early seventies now so the dementia cases captured so far are unusually young ones,” she explains. “Dementia isn’t one disease with one cause and changes in the brain start twenty to thirty years before anyone notices symptoms.”
However, it’s just one of a raft of studies pointing to a link between high sugar diets in childhood and health problems – from dental problems to obesity. Amati agrees that reducing sugar is important for children’s health. “It rests on teeth, on the taste preferences that get laid down in the first few years and on metabolic health. Those show up now, not in 2090.”
So what are the biggest mistakes parents make, and how can I discreetly lower sugar in my own kids’ diets?
Rockstar releases GTA VI preview
- The “extended look” debuted on Netflix on Thursday evening.
- Six hours later, it was released by Rockstar Games on YouTube.
- It comes more than 18 months after the last official teaser trailer.
Dual protagonists
New footage featured sprawling cityscapes, gun battles and high-speed pursuits while offering a glimpse of the game’s new graphics and world-building.
What else to expect
- The preview showed the couple fighting their way out of a drug pick-up after a police raid.
- Vice City, which featured in previous editions of the series, also reappears in GTA VI.
- Meanwhile, players’ actions can reportedly control how the characters’ story unfolds.
4 min read
No word yet on GTA Online
The footage illustrated GTA VI’s new and improved graphics, worthy of a game with a budget reportedly among the most expensive in video game history.
Rockstar, however, has yet to release details about GTA Online, having previously confirmed the game would launch initially as a “single-player experience”.
The Man I Am
5 min read
Improved graphics in GTA VI
Not long to wait now…
Pre-orders for the long-awaited game, which will be the popular franchise’s first instalment since 2013, began on 25 June.
GTA VI is set to be available on Xbox and PlayStation consoles with a planned release date of 19 November, having been delayed on a number of occasions.
3 min read
3 min read
Cuts to meet demand
A report by the NHS Alliance, which represents health trusts and hospitals, examined increased spending on ADHD and autism services across 42 regional NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) in England.
It found the uptick in funding required to meet soaring demand for ADHD diagnoses was forcing some NHS boards to cut crucial care in other areas to balance budgets.
5 min read
2 min read
Some of the numbers
- One region saw a tenfold spending increase from 2024-25 to 2025-26, from £1.75m to £18m.
- In another region, spend on adult ADHD services went from £11m in 2023-24 to £38m in 2024-25.
- For the 2026-27 financial year, this is projected to rise to £51m.
What’s behind increased spending?
Under the Right to Choose initiative, the 800,000 people on NHS waiting lists for an ADHD assessment in England, have a legal right to NHS-funded private assessments.
The NHS paid for 100,000 private ADHD assessments via the initiative last year, contributing to the steep rise in spending.
- There are also “huge variations in the prices paid for services”.
- The NHS Alliance report found assessment fees ranging from £300 to £3,000.
- This possibility for profit has in turn caused a dramatic increase in private ADHD providers.
5 min read
Watch more from The i Paper
Four things to know as death toll from Nepal flash flood rises
Hundreds of people have died following flash flooding in Nepal and Tibet, while search and rescue operations for the many who remain missing are proving difficult.
What caused the flooding?
A collapsed glacier near the border between Nepal and China’s autonomous region of Tibet on Wednesday resulted in a huge flood wave that surged through the region, bursting rivers banks, covering populated areas in thick mud, destroying houses and roads and blocking a key border crossing.
4 min read
5 min read
Hundreds of casualties
- Nepal Police confirmed on Friday that at least 475 people have died.
- Hundreds have been rescued but hundreds more are unaccounted for across Nepal and Tibet.
- Among the missing are 33 British nationals, including children.
- Nepal’s government has released a list of over 537 foreign nationals who have been out of contact since the floods hit.
Second flood risks
- Rescue operations have been hindered by fears of a second flood.
- A new barrier lake at the flood site began to overflow on Friday temporarily halting efforts.
5 min read
UK offers support
- The UK has offered £5m to help the Nepalese government.
- Andy Burnham also offered for emergency responders to head to the affected region.
- The Prime Minister described the situation as “very distressing and devastating”.
3 min read
Devastating floods
Norway’s King Harald V has died at the age of 89 after he was taken to hospital for a rare blood condition last week.
Europe’s oldest reigning monarch
The monarch passed away “peacefully” at Oslo University Hospital, the country’s royal family said. Harald was Europe’s oldest reigning monarch and had been admitted to hospital with haemolytic anaemia, which is caused by the rapid destruction of red blood cells.
A popular king
Harald reigned for 35 years and had been the first king born in Norway since the 14th century. King Charles paid tribute to his “dear cousin” praising him for his “warmth and humility”.
Harald, described as the ‘People’s King’, married a commoner and stood as a unifying figure for the country, especially during the 2011 bomb and gun attacks in Oslo.
Following the Nazi invasion of Norway, Harald, then three, fled the country with his mother.
- At first, they crossed into Sweden before then travelling to the US following invitation of Franklin D Roosevelt.
- He became crown prince in 1957, and studied social science, history and economics at Balliol College in Oxford from 1960-62.
- He met Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a businessman, and married her in Oslo Cathedral on 29 August 1968.
- Harald ascended to the throne in 1991 following the death of his father, Olav.
A life in pictures
The surprise bonus benefits of four common vaccines
People who have had the have a lower rate of some completely unexpected conditions, including heart attacks and strokes, a study found this week.
What did the study find?
- Rates of heart disease and strokes were 9 per cent lower over seven years in Americans who got the new shingles vaccine.
- This was compared with those who were vaccinated using a previous version, a study by the University of Oxford found.
- This cuts heart disease by about the same amount as when people take a daily tablet to lower their blood pressure.
- This is according to researcher Dr Maxime Taquet, associate professor at the University of Oxford.
The other vaccines with added benefits
- The MMR jab not only protects against measles, but over the years cuts the rate at which children fall prey to ear infections, diarrhoea and pneumonia.
- The vaccine against tuberculosis has been turned into a treatment for bladder cancer.
- The HPV vaccine prevents not just cervical cancer but also throat cancer and some cancers of the penis and anus.
3 min read
More on health from The i Paper
Could alcolocks become mandatory for repeat drink-drivers?
International evidence shows can reduce reoffending by up to 70%.
Police chiefs and road safety campaigners have written to the Prime Minister urging him to introduce alcolocks for repeat drink-driving offenders.
What are alcolocks?
- Alcohol interlocks, known as alcolocks, are devices which prevent a vehicle from being started or driven unless the motorist passes a breath test.
Campaigners including the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the RAC urged the Government to introduce a mandatory alcolock programme for “high-risk and repeat drink-driving offenders”.
What campaigners said
An effective programme should make the use of an alcolock a mandatory condition of an offender returning to driving, backed by monitoring and appropriate rehabilitation. “It would prevent a vehicle being driven after drinking, rather than relying solely on a ban or penalty after the event.
A closer look at the figures
How serious a problem is repeat drink-driving?
27,837
The number of British motorists who were convicted of drink-driving multiple times in the 11 years to 20 July, 2024.
Transport Department figures suggest an estimated 260 people were killed in crashes on Britain’s roads involving at least one driver over the legal alcohol limit in 2023.
Approximately 1,600 people were seriously injured.
What happens abroad?
Several countries such as Australia, Belgium, Canada and the US mandate the use of interlocks during sentencing of some drink-drivers.
This does not happen in the UK, where people lose their licence for at least 12 months, although offenders may be offered a reduced ban if they complete a rehabilitation course.
5 min read
2 min read
Teenage girl has dissolvable heart implant fitted to chase rugby dream
A teenage girl has become the first person in the UK to have a dissolvable implant fitted to close a hole in her heart that is around the size of a 10p coin.
Lillie Yale, from Warrington, faced having a permanent metal device, which would have hindered her dream of becoming a professional rugby player.
How the implant works
- The implant will act as a scaffold for Lillie’s heart to heal over the coming years, before dissolving and leaving behind no trace.
- The procedure was performed on the 14-year-old at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool in June.
- It is the first time the device, known as MemoSorb, has been used on a patient with an atrial septal defect (ASD), a hole in the wall that divides the two upper chambers of the heart, in the UK.
Lillie is ‘healing perfectly’
Lillie’s mother Becci Nichols, 38, said her daughter is “healing perfectly” and has since ran a 5k and has returned to playing rugby.
“I’m really happy it’s all done now, and it’s amazing to know I was the first person in the UK to have this new type of implant,” Lillie said.
How to be more grateful for daily life in five easy steps
The world feels like a difficult place at the moment, and it can feel very hard sometimes to find things to be thankful for; when we are overwhelmed, we have less capacity to notice and reflect on the good things. Yet, ironically, proactively cultivating gratitude is one of the things that can actually help us feel less stressed.
NHS GP dR RADHA
The science
Research has shown that feeling or expressing thanks can actually alter our brain.
- The balance of neurotransmitters change; more serotonin and dopamine (feel good chemicals) are produced.
- This can be long lasting if we make gratitude a regular habit.
- We also get a decrease in our cortisol (stress hormone) levels which helps lower anxiety.
- Being grateful can strengthen the nerve pathways which triggers positive emotion.
How can we build gratitude?
Change your words
Instead of seeing something as a problem, try to see the opportunities within it.
Our brains are very receptive and what we read or write can alter our emotional system.
Express it
This will not only make you feel good, but you will also get a positive response from others.
How can we build gratitude?
Notice more
Throughout your day, try to notice all the things that are going well; has someone opened a door for you, or smiled?
The basics
By being thankful for the small things every day, we are far more likely to be and stay healthy so that we can enjoy them.
What to do
Gratitude can lead to feelings of optimism, lower our blood pressure, and improve sleep quality.
- Write down what potential good aspects there are to the things you don’t feel like doing, or even what could be worse about it.
- Spend a few minutes writing down three things that you are looking forward to that day, or the good things that have happened to you that day.
- Say thank you to yourself for the things you have achieved, or managed to get through and changed that day.
Amati says that for parents of younger children, the single most positive thing they can do is to drop sugar-laden “follow-on” and “growing-up” milks.
“The National Health Service, Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and the World Health Organisation all agree they’re unnecessary,” she says. For the third of 18-month-olds who drink them, they supply half of their free sugar intake. “Water and milk are the only drinks for infants,” she says.
Rather than “rationing” our children, she recommends replacing it with healthier food. “A diet with enough good in it squeezes the rest out without anyone having to play sugar police. What children need is patient, unpressured exposure to the harder flavours like broccoli, lentils, olive oil, plain yoghurt. It can take ten offers before a food is accepted. Most of us stop at three,” she explains.
She advises I focus on frequency, rather than quantity of sugar. “Every sugar exposure drops the pH in the mouth for twenty to forty minutes, so it’s the grazing that does the damage, not the pudding. The same biscuit eaten at the end of lunch and eaten alone at four o’clock are not the same event for a child’s teeth,” she says.
I set out to make sensible swaps that won’t cost money and will teach good habits that will, hopefully, set them up for the future.
Swapping ice cream for frozen milkshake
It’s been a hot summer and frozen snacks have played a larger part in our diet than usual. We’ve swapped shop-bought ice cream for making our own lollies by freezing milkshakes.
I blend milk, bananas and frozen strawberries or blueberries (which are significantly cheaper than fresh and keep the drink cool enough to be refreshing). Each time, I make enough milkshake to fill up half a dozen lolly moulds. My children have got involved with the blending, which always makes them more inclined to eat their food.
Dr Amati says this is an upgrade from most shop-bought ice cream that carries “emulsifiers, stabilisers, flavourings and a much higher free sugar load. Yours has three ingredients you can name.” She cautions about portions. “Blending breaks down the structure of the fruit, so the sugars are released from the food matrix and behave more like free sugars. Intact fruit slows its own absorption; blended fruit doesn’t.”
I hadn’t realised that the milk is a huge positive in a frozen milkshake lolly. “Calcium and casein buffer acid in the mouth, which protects teeth. The fat and protein slow the sugar release. A blended fruit-and-milk drink behaves quite differently from blended fruit on its own,” she says.
She suggests that 150ml “treated as a nutritious pudding, rather than a drink, is a genuine upgrade on the freezer aisle.”
Taste verdict: This gets an average 9/10 from the children.
Cost saving: Frozen strawberries at £3 per packet (Tesco), milk £1.20, and three bananas at 49p makes 14 lollies for £4.69, compared with Twister mini lollies at £4.90 for 14. A saving of 21p per lolly.
Swapping biscuits for healthy cake
We usually save cake for rare occasions, but I figure that if I make it healthily then it can swap with some of the biscuits which we keep in the cupboards. I substitute banana and dates for refined sugar and add in ground almonds for protein.
I feel smug about having created a cake with no added sugar but Amati reminds me: “You haven’t taken the sugar out. Dates are roughly 65 per cent sugar and blended into a batter those sugars count as free sugars, same as the caster sugar you replaced.” But she does say that this is a more healthy way of eating cake. “There is fibre from the dates and banana, fat and protein from the almonds. That combination slows digestion, creates a gentler blood glucose response and keeps everyone full for longer. You’ve also added potassium, magnesium and vitamin E, which caster sugar contributes nothing of. So it’s a nourishing cake rather than a healthy food, and that’s exactly the right thing for it to be. Cake is allowed to be cake.”
Dr Amati recommends adding savoury snacks into our diet too. “The best children’s snacks are fruit, cheese, oatcakes, yoghurt, veg and hummus, because they’re cheap, they involve chewing, and they don’t need a label read.” Gut health company Zoe makes its own snack bar, too, though Dr Amati says for children she reserves these for out-of-the-house situations.
Taste verdict: Mixed: a 9/10 from my eldest and me but my youngest did not like it.
Cost saving: Bananas 49p, Dates £1.40, Ground almonds £3.40, eggs 80p. At a total of £5.89, this was more expensive than a tub of millionaire’s from Sainsbury’s at £3, but it felt worth it with a very simple ingredients list.
Swapping shop-bought bread for homemade
My husband Mark used to make bread frequently and somehow as life gets busier our bread machine gets forgotten. Yet it’s delicious and waking to the smell of fresh bread is genuinely quality-of-life improving. I’m always shocked by how much sugar is in supermarket bread and I’m keen to start enjoying the real deal.
I, however, haven’t really experimented with the bread machine before. I use Mark’s recipe and somehow create a brick. This one’s going to take me a bit of practice but it will be worth it.
Taste verdict: Inedible, but I know from past experience this becomes 8/10 with practice.
A huge saving. Homemade bread costs 70p per loaf compared to £2 for supermarket bought, a saving of £475 per year.
Swapping shop bought pasta sauce for homemade
I’m a big fan of a tomato and mascarpone pasta sauce. We have an M&S garage around the corner: it doesn’t sell actual mascarpone but sells the ready made sauce and, when time is pushed, I’ll grab it. But I know that when I take the time to make my own it’s delicious – and very simple. And it has no added sugar. The same, of course, applies for most sauces, including the mild curries that our children have started enjoying, so my husband Mark, who cooks a lot, has started making korma sauce too.
Taste verdict: 9/10 – of course the homemade versions are better.
£2.35 – a saving of 20p. Tomatoes 85p, half a tub of mascarpone £1.20 and basil 30p compared with shop bought pasta sauce, £2.55.
Swapping cereal for eggs
During term time our children frequently eat eggs for breakfast but our leisurely mornings this summer have thrown our egg habit. Instead, the children have been eating high protein, very low sugar Surreal cereal. It’s not cheap (£4 for eight servings) and I’m excited to return to eggs: scrambled, omelette, dip dips or splat eggs, as my children call fried eggs.
Dr Amati recommends checking all cereal labels carefully. “Swap high-sugar cereals for plain porridge or wheat biscuits, with berries or sliced banana for sweetness,” she says. “Check the label on anything marketed to children — several “healthy” children’s cereals run above 20g of sugar per 100g.”
Taste verdict: 10/10
It’s 80p for two eggs, compared with 50p for a 30g serving of Surreal cereal so it is more expensive
We haven’t given up all sugar in our diets – there’s no way my children would let me – but we have cut down on UPFs in the process of reducing free sugars, which feels much healthier all round.
I’m keeping Dr Amati’s advice in mind: “I avoid added sugar sauces and soft drinks at home and focus on fresh whole fruit. We do have ice creams and sweets at home but they’re eaten as part of a meal instead of in isolation.”
Now, I just need to keep it up.