We parents start our day with adding sugar to morning Tea and thereafter sprinkle it all over breakfast cereals for adding flavor to it. Our kids consume sugar in various forms like cake, candies, ice-cream,jams, ketchup and pastries. We don’t realize that consuming cake and candies by our kids might make them seem fine on the outside, but too much sugar can cause “tooth decay” and lead to build up of harmful fat inside, that we can’t see. This fat around their vital organs can cause serious diseases like Weight Gain, Type 2 diabetes and heart diseases.
A report from IMA confirms that Indian Children’s up to the age of 16 years are consuming three times more sugar than they should have been. The problem we underestimate is that sugar is lurking in our kids’ food & sugary drinks. Around 30 percent of sugar in kids’ diet comes from sugary drinks, such as fizzy pop, juice drinks, squashes, cordials and energy drinks. Sugary drinks should have no place in child’s daily diet. Drinking a Can of soft drink is equivalent to consuming 9 sugar cubes, which is far more in consumption anyone should have in a day.
We should keep a check on what our kids are consuming and encourage them to eat healthy fruit & vegetables. Although fruits contain a lot of sugar, but you don’t need to worry about the sugar in fruits and vegetables as they are a great source of fiber and contains a lot of minerals and vitamins. But, watch out for fruit juice and smoothies as both of them are very high in sugar.
So, now the question arises how much of sugar is too much? For 4-6 years of Child maximum intake should be 19 grams of sugar or 5 sugar cubes a day. For 7-10 years of child maximum intake should be 24 gram of sugar or 6 sugar cubes a day. And for 11 years and above kids 30 grams of sugar or 7 cubes of sugar intake a day should be more than sufficient. For your calculation, do keep in mind that 1 sugar cube is equivalent to approx 4 gram of sugar.
It’s a well known fact that kids copy parents. So be a role model for them and when they see you eating and drinking healthier they will too start doing the same. Also, don’t forget to get your kids help with preparing healthier snacks as they are more likely to eat it if they have helped prepare it.
Stay Healthy, Stay Happy!