If you’ve read the papers or watched the news over the weekend, you may be forgiven for thinking you now have the green light to consume 400 extra calories a day.
This was the way that the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition’s (SACN) draft report on Energy Requirements was widely reported in the media. It’s unfortunate that this is the way many journalists interpreted the draft report, as it’s simply not true, and is an irresponsible message considering the levels of obesity in this country.
SACN, in its draft report, has estimated that people’s energy requirements are higher than previously calculated in 1991. This is because there is now more evidence available, based on a more accurate way of measuring energy expenditure, and SACN’s conclusions were based on this new evidence.
The draft report stresses that this should not be interpreted to mean that people need to eat more, such as an extra cheeseburger as quoted in some media. Given the high, and increasing number of, people who are overweight and obese in the UK (about 60% of the population), it is clear that many people take in more calories than they need.
Although the media got a bit overexcited about the draft report, the fact is that the Agency’s advice remains unchanged. That is, that people should maintain a healthy body weight, and for most people this means eating less and exercising more. Guidance to industry and food providers on calorie labelling also remains unchanged.
There were accusations from some quarters about the Agency wanting to ‘sweep this report under the carpet'. It’s difficult to see where this claim came from, considering that we published a story on our website on 5 November, with a link to the full draft report.
Once the scientific consultation is complete and SACN has considered all comments and finalised its report, it will then be the job of the Agency and health departments to carefully consider it. Again, this will all be made publicly available via our website.
