Joe McNamee: Sugar use has Ireland rising up the obesity chart

"Sweets really were treats. Bread and jam was as much as you might enjoy during the week until Pops came home on a Friday night with toffees to be thrown to the slavering hordes."

Yesterday, November 14, was World Diabetes Day, arriving rather appropriately just after the national sugar spike that is Halloween.

Yesterday, November 14, was World Diabetes Day, arriving rather appropriately just after the national sugar spike that is Halloween.

I can be carbon dated back to a time when sweets were outliers in the trick or treating haul, rare diamonds amongst the base metals of apples, mountains of unshelled peanuts, and the occasional mandarin.