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Should sugary drinks be banned for under-18s?

UK children are consuming on average three times the amount of sugar they should be, more than anywhere else in Europe. And a quarter of their intake of sugar is from fizzy drinks. Excess sugar can lead to tooth decay, hyperactivity, weight gain and even chronic life-changing diseases, like diabetes.

Sugar stimulates the same pleasure centres in the brain as addictive substances like nicotine, which can result in withdrawal symptoms and cravings if taken away. The government is so worried, it is increasing the price of sugary drinks to put children off buying them. But flavoured drinks can also introduce children to the taste of fruit and encourage them to drink more fruit juices and eat more fresh fruit as part of their diet. And instead of forcing them, shouldn't children be taught to make their own informed choices about what they drink and eat.

With all this knowledge, do you think sugary drinks should be banned for under-18s?

Should sugary drinks be banned for under-18s? Excess sugar can lead to tooth decay, hyperactivity, weight gain and even chronic life-changing diseases, like diabetes.

I know so many people that suffer from tooth decay, including myself.

It's good for the dentist, but not good for our point of view.

Certain sugary substances can cause people to have sugar spikes in their blood.

I knew you could get diabetes if you eat too much sugar, but then I don't really eat that much, but then other people do. And when they do, they don't really think when they buy it.

Some forms of diabetes, you can't produce enough insulin, so then you can't break down the sugars.

I had a can of pop earlier today. I'm going to - I feel really guilty now for having lots of sugar.

Do you drink much of it?

I wouldn't say much, but once a week at least.

How often do you drink sugary drinks?

About three times a week, maybe.

Three times a week? That's less than average. I drink twice a day, so that means I'm having 30 teaspoons of sugar. That's a lot of sugar.

Sugar stimulates the same pleasure centres in the brain as addictive substances like nicotine, which can result in withdrawal symptoms and cravings if taken away.

Isn't being addicted is like you can't live without it? Not being able to live without sugar…

You hear so much about people being addicted to cigarettes, people being addicted to drugs -

Yeah like gambling and stuff.

You wouldn't think of an everyday thing like sugar.

The government is so worried, it is increasing the price of sugary drinks to put children off buying them.

I think increasing the price of sugar is a great idea, because then not much people would suffer from these diseases, and the NHS would save money as well.

If you put the price up, then if people are that addicted then they will pay those prices. And then they will then lose more money and it will just get worse and worse for them.

People under 12, or maybe like little kids, that's all they want is sugar. So they can't really make a proper decision. But people that have a better awareness, and people that know what is good or bad for you, I think they should always be able to decide how much they have.