Watch out for added sugar in your children’s diet. Even if they don’t have a sweet tooth, they might still be consuming too much of it.
Watch out for added sugar in your children’s diet. Even if they don’t have a sweet tooth, they might still be consuming too much of it.
Kids usually love anything sugary – think chocolate, soft drinks, and ice cream. Add these to a diet of fast food, ready meals and processed food, and your child might have a problem. Why? Not only do such foods contain extra calories, but they often contain added sugar (sugar that doesn’t occur naturally, like in milk or fruit), too, making it easy to consume too much sugar. Experts at the American Heart Association (AHA) recommend that kids aged four to eight with a daily caloric intake of 1,600 calories should have no more than three teaspoons of added sugar a day, while older kids and teens should consume no more than eight. According to an AHA study, these children are consuming an average of 21 to 34 teaspoons of sugar – way over the daily recommendation!
WHERE DOES ADDED SUGAR COME FROM?
Here’s a breakdown of what an average child might have in a day.
WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT SUGAR?
Consuming too much sugar can lead to obesity and associated issues such as diabetes, heart disease and joint problems. There has already been a rise in obesity in schoolkids here, from 11 per cent in 2013 to 12 per cent in 2014. On top of that, there is a higher chance of getting tooth decay. When kids and teens are overweight, it can lead them to feel self-conscious about their bodies and aff ect their self-esteem, too.
3 ways to encourage healthy diets
• Cook your meals from scratch and involve your kids in food preparation so they are educated about what goes into their food. They can assist with simple tasks like grating cheese, stirring and measuring ingredients.
• Substitute foods with healthier choices like VITAGEN Less Sugar, which has 50 per cent less sugar than other regular cultured milk drinks, but still has all the benefits of probiotic cultures and prebiotic fibres.
• Don’t use food as an incentive. Avoid rewarding good behaviour with treats or withdrawing them if your little one is naughty.
