Sugar Smart Greenwich, a new initiative adopted by organisations around the borough, will launch on Tuesday 17 January. The scheme asks local institutions to take action to promote healthier, lower sugar alternatives and it already has support from 18 organisations.

Helping people make healthier choices

Sugar Smart Greenwich is launched as new data shows that in Greenwich, over 40 per cent of Year 6 children are overweight. This is not just a local problem - children and adults around the UK are consuming two to three times the recommended amount of sugar. This is leading to high rates of tooth decay, obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. The Sugar Smart Greenwich scheme seeks to change this and create environments that allow people to make healthier, lower sugar choices.

Greenwich and Lewisham are the first boroughs in London to go Sugar Smart, after the scheme was successfully rolled out in Brighton. Sugar Smart Greenwich is being led by the Royal Borough of Greenwich together with the Jamie Oliver Foundation and Good Food In Greenwich.

Organisations pledged to sign up

Sugar Smart Greenwich works with local organisations, businesses, schools, children's centres and hospitals to identify what we can do to reduce sugar in Greenwich. So far, before the initiative has even officially launched, 18 local organisations have pledged to help people eat and drink less sugar, including:

• Charlton Athletic Football Club and Community Trust
• Wincanton Logistics
• four Primary schools
• local caterer GS Plus
• Charlton Park Rugby Club - the first rugby club in the country to do so.

Creating a healthier environment

Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care Councillor David Gardner, who will be launching the scheme, said, "It's great to see so many organisations around the borough taking action to reduce sugar. We know sugar is a leading cause of childhood obesity, and the Sugar Smart Greenwich programme will help us to create a healthier environment for people here in Greenwich. Together with Lewisham, we are leading the way, and many other boroughs are keen to follow suit."

Pledges to reduce sugar

Organisations in the Sugar Smart scheme can sign-up to a range of pledges. A new Sugar Smart website hosted by Good Food In Greenwich has several resources to help local organisations and food businesses to go sugar smart.

Ideas so far include pledges to install water fountains in exercise facilities, commitments to remove sugary food from check-outs, and price changes to reduce the attractiveness of fizzy and high sugar drinks. Other venues have pledged to remove adverts for sugary food and replace them with information about sugary content.

Official launch on 17 January

The launch on Tuesday 17 January will take place at Charlton Athletic Football Club to encourage even more organisations to sign-up and take pledges to become Sugar Smart. Key organisations who have already pledged to be Sugar Smart will present what they have promised to do to help people consume less sugar, and Councillor David Gardner will present these Sugar Smart organisations with their certificates, signed by well-known Chef Jamie Oliver.

For more information about Sugar Smart Greenwich, visit the Good Food in Greenwich website.

If you are an organisation and would like to help our community consume less sugar by taking part in Sugar Smart Greenwich, contact sugar-smart@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or visit the Good Food in Greenwich website.