I recently experienced three incidents in the same day and felt compelled to share them with you in my regular column.

What were those three things? All three revolve around our relationship with sugar which is now, undoubtedly, a major concern for all our own health levels as well as that of our children.........

Firstly, I read a very interesting piece on the BBC News website on the call to banish fruit juice from the recommended five-a-day. The first part of this report looked at how parents are sometimes confused over whether to give their children fruit juice is a good idea or not and it was found that some fruit juices may contain at least six teaspoons of sugar! Clearly unsweetened fruit juice can be be given as an occasional treat but the safest and best way forward is water.

Secondly, only 15 mins after reading this article on the bus I sat down on the tube next to a man with his young son (maybe 5 years old) ; the man was drinking a large can of a branded energy drink and his son was drinking a 300ml carton of a branded fruit juice which contains approx 30grams of sugar. Now, whilst there may be conflicting thoughts on exactly how much is a safe amount of sugar to consume on a daily basis there is no doubt that 30 grams of sugar in one go, for that little boy, was a big hit. Let’s not even think about tooth decay and heart disease!

Thirdly, whilst I was queuing up to pay at a local branch of a national chain I have, in front of me, rows and rows of chocolate bars and packets of crisps under a label 'Handy to Have' (before you ask I was buying fruit). Why are chocolate bars handy to have? I despair!

I contacted the store via social media and, to be fair to them, they responded by saying they would pass on my comments to their management team. Maybe they will, maybe they wont. My point is surely shops could place fruit on those shelves by the tills instead of chocolate bars and crisps? Ok, I know if someone wants to buy a bar of chocolate they will, but can’t we try to keep them out of temptation’s way and replace them with fruit or carrot sticks/cucumber/healthy dips/salads; the list goes on.

What would be the affect on sales, I wonder, if all the high street shops and supermarkets put their fruit and veg by the checkouts and moved all their chocolate bars further into the store. Wouldn’t it be an interesting experiment to see what happened to sales figures in both areas?

So, it has been a sugar-fuelled day and I felt I needed to share my experiences with you all, so please think again before you reach for that bar of chocolate, as you queue up to pay for shopping, and if you are a parent please please please cut back (or even cut out completely) on giving your children fruit juice and give them water instead.

Please let me know if you have managed to make any positive changes in your eating habits recently and not just around sugar consumption. I would welcome your stories: you can get in touch via email or call me on 07921 777477.