According to American Heart Association Kids should have 6 teaspoons or less of added sugar a day, This is the same recommendation that the organization recommend for adult women, its applicable to all children between ages 2 and 18.
6 teaspoons are equivalent to 100 calories, or 25 grams, this include any sugars like table sugar, fructose, and honey that are used in the preparing or processing of foods or beverages, however, naturally occurring sugars in foods such as dairy products and whole fruits are not included.
The advice’s from the World Health Organization, the FDA, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, recommend that added sugars make up less than 10 percent of daily calories.
LIMITATIONS ON SUGAR INTAKE
According to American Heart Association Kids should have 6 teaspoons or less of added sugar a day, This is the same recommendation that the organization recommend for adult women, its applicable to all children between ages 2 and 18.
6 teaspoons are equivalent to 100 calories, or 25 grams, this include any sugars like table sugar, fructose, and honey that are used in the preparing or processing of foods or beverages, however, naturally occurring sugars in foods such as dairy products and whole fruits are not included.
From the current advice’s from the World Health Organization, the FDA, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, all of which recommend that added sugars make up less than 10 percent of daily calories.
Limiting sugars at this age may also help children develop a life-long love for healthy food, since taste preferences are often formed early in life.
Kids should not take more than 8 ounces of food with little nutritional value that include sugar- sweetened beverages per week, such as soda, fruit-flavored and sports drinks, sweetened teas and energy drinks.
Try to avoid added sugars in your child’s diet. Instead, try to serve them with mostly foods that are high in nutrition, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meat, poultry and fish, and try to limit foods with little nutritional value.
Eating too much sugar means eating too many calories and our body will store them as fat. This can lead to weight gain and if this happens to our children, it’s very likely they will carry it into their adolescent and adult years, which will make them become overweight or obese.
With this in mind, how much free sugar should our kids have and is it really that bad? There is room for a little bit of sugar in children’s diets, but these foods and drinks should only be seen as occasional treats, never the norm. High sugar foods tend to have fewer vitamins and minerals, and they may start to replace nutritious foods kids need to grow and develop.
Most of us eat too much sugar and recent recommendations advise us to reduce the amount of ‘free sugars’ we eat. Children tend to copy behavior so if they see you eating a healthy diet, they will too.
Instead of cakes, pastries, biscuits or sweets, try a plain scone, unsalted nuts, bread sticks, fruit and vegetable sticks, oat or rice cakes with a small amount of peanut butter, sliced banana and cheese you can also bake a fruit crumble or tart without adding much sugar, these will helped them a lot.
We should encourage our children to eat healthier snacks and have more nutritious drinks, eat more fruit and vegetables and increase fiber by having whole meal and wholegrain options. Being really active and encouraging different sports and activities is equally as important
Children are more likely to develop risk factors for heart disease (such as obesity and high blood pressure) and Type 2 diabetes (such as insulin resistance) when they eat a lot of daily sweets or other forms of added sugar, just like adult.
Therefore, children who eat foods loaded with added sugars tend to eat fewer healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products which are good for their heart health. We should try and help our children in their diet.
[naijapr]
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