Most children nowadays consume more sugar than the maximum of the recommended amount. That is probably because of the added sugars in food and beverages in which you do not think that there is added sugars inside.
This high number of sugars in a children’s diet has physical and psychological effects on children. Because other than the obvious effects like obesity and diabetes it can also affect the concentration skill and also the memory forming.
But how can we limit the amount of sugar a child has without being cruel and prohibiting sugar at all means.
First, we have to clarify what added sugars are. Because not every sugar in food is added. Sugar is a natural occurrence in milk, fruits, and vegetables this sugar counts to the total carbohydrates and is not added. So added sugar is everything that gets added to the food in the process of production. Important to say is also that you children till the age of two should not consume any added sugars at all.
The best method to see if there are any added sugars in the food is to check the nutrition labels that are found on everything. There under the point carbohydrates you can find a row labelled added sugars where it states how much sugar has been added if there is any added. So, the first thing to do is to check those then you do not accidentally buy anything that might be unhealthy.
The second thing is that in many beverages there is unnecessary added sugars added so try to not serve sodas or sirups rather rely on water and milk. Milk does have sugar itself but it also provides your children with important nutrients.
Also don’t serve juice to often as one serving of juice has more sugar than there is in one serving of fruit.
Rely on freshly made products rather than pre-packaged because there is often sugar added to foods where you would not add sugar if you make it freshly for example baked beans or granola bars.
I hope that you now know more about added sugars and how to avoid them in your children’s diet.
Sources:
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/added-sugar-children-health/
https://health.choc.org/how-to-limit-added-sugars-in-your-childs-diet/
