Kids' Diets Have Too Much Added Sugar

I used to have big fight with my ex-wife over the serving of high sugar drinks to my only daugther.

Now , my daugther is 21, she start to be aware of the relationship of Fats & sugar & obesity. Last year when she visited me, she want me to bring her to doctor advise. I am glad the doctor she goes to advise her the same as I do.

Well, when we love our kids, there is always must love them in the right ways. Our parents may be not as good awareness compare with us about
those effect of extra sweet candy, suagr drinks... But it is our duty to share the knowledge with them. So they know the reason.

You see, many things like illness would not taken place after the body antibody is low. for exemple, my friend in Malaysia, she never follow my advise not to drink soft drink & sweet drinks, she got diebetic at the age of 28 years old. She is now suffering from pain & her loss of vision.

So if you love your Kids & yourself, do think of their Great health. Less sugar.

Kids' Diets Have Too Much Added SugarKids' Diets Have Too Much Added Sugar

Healthier Foods Often Lose Out to Sugary Ones in Children's Diets

By Miranda Hitti WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD
on Thursday, January 13, 2005

The diets of children in this country contains too much added sugar, a new study shows.

Many American kids consume too much added sugar almost as soon as they start eating solid food. They're also not getting enough calcium and other nutrients, since sugary foods often edge out healthier fare, researchers say.

The long-term consequences could include a greater risk of obesity, heart disease, and dental cavities. Food habits adopted in childhood can be hard to change.

Just ask Sibylle Kranz, PhD, RD. She's a registered dietitian and assistant professor of nutrition sciences at Pennsylvania State University, and she's got the sugary scoop on the country's littlest eaters.

Kranz and colleagues tracked added sugar intake in 2- and 5-year-olds. The data came from children's food surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1990s. The surveys detailed what more than 5,400 children ate over two days.

The researchers focused on added sugar categories. Sugar is an ingredient added to many foods during processing or preparing. The study also included sugars eaten separately, such as candy or those added at the table, including syrup, and brown and white table sugar.

The researchers looked at main food sources of added sugar in preschool children including cookies, soft drinks, candy, and juices.

They didn't include the natural types of sugars, such as fructose found in foods like fruit, or galactose, a type of sugar found in milk products.

Sweet Tooth Statistics

Added sugar saturated the kids' diets.

On average, added sugar intake was 14 teaspoons per day for kids aged 2-3 and about 17 teaspoons per day for those aged 4-5. The highest level of added sugar for the younger kids was 23 teaspoons per day and more than 26 teaspoons per day for the older kids.

Sugar added up to more than one quarter of the total daily calories for 11% of the children aged 2-3 and 12% for the 4- and 5-year-olds.

Fruit drinks, high-fat desserts, and regular soft drinks were the most common sources of added sugar. They accounted for half of added sugar noted in the surveys.

Healthier Foods Sidelined

All that added sugar apparently pushed more nutritious foods off kids' plates. The more added sugar in a kid's diet, the less likely the diet contained grains, vegetables, fruits, and dairy.

"Children with the highest level of added sugar intake had the lowest consumption of most nutrients and servings of grains, vegetables, fruits, and dairy," say the researchers in the Jan. issue of The Journal of Pediatrics.

The kids who got most of their calories from added sugars, consumed significantly fewer calories from protein and fat, ate less fiber, and fell short on many nutrients. For instance, calcium intake was too low in 40% of the youngest kids and about 70% of the older children consuming the most added sugar.

Even those who ate the least added sugar (less than 10% of daily calories) often didn't get enough calcium.

Sugar Recommendations Questioned

Current added sugar guidelines might be too liberal, say the researchers. They note that the National Academy of Sciences recommends getting no more than 25% of daily calories from added sugar. That could be too much for preschoolers, say the researchers, calling for long-term studies.

Stricter limits come from the USDA's Food Pyramid and World Health Organization. The USDA recommends capping added sugar at 6%-10% of daily calories. The World Health Organization advises getting less than 10% of daily calories from added sugar.

Want to limit kids' added sugar intake? Look beyond the cookie jar. Lemonade, 10% fruit juices, ice cream, pies, cakes, soft drinks, and sweetened cereals were also popular sources in the study.