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| KRT/DEBI LOVELAND |
| Reading labels can help parents limit sugar and refined carbohydrates in their children's diets. |
Kids today are consuming way more sugar than is healthy. Imagine pouring a 5-pound bag of sugar down your child's throat. Absurd, right? Wrong. New data show this is the amount kids get every month, and most of it doesn't come from the sugar bowl or cookie jar.
"Liquid sugar from soda, juice and fruit drinks is the biggest source," says Barry M. Popkin, professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina. His study of more than 73,000 children and adults found that between ages 2 and 18, kids drink 135 percent more calories in sweetened beverages than you probably did as a child.
Too much of any sweetener (see accompanying information for other names for sugar) can raise a child's risk of obesity, poor bone density and Type 2 diabetes by adding calories and crowding out healthful items such as dairy products, fruits and vegetables.
"Humans have a primitive desire for sugar that is made stronger by a sweets-heavy diet," says Popkin.
The World Health Organization recommends a daily upper limit for kids of 40 grams, or 10 teaspoons, of any type of sugar. The physician authors of Sugar Busters! For Kids set the limit at a more conservative 24 grams, or 6 teaspoons, a day. The experts we spoke with suggest that parents aim for somewhere in between these limits. Here are smart tips for cutting back on sweets, especially those sneaky liquid ones.
Ease cravings: Healthful substitutions can cut the hunger for sugar. If your child typically has dessert every day, switch to a dish of strawberries or other fruit with a tablespoon or two of whipped cream. Then gradually start trimming the cream. Don't rely on artificially sweetened products; they may have fewer calories, but their intense taste reinforces the desire for sweets.
Have a sweet-Saturday rule: Make dessert a once-a-week special treat, preferably eaten outside the home so your kitchen can be a sugar-free zone. Kids have plenty of opportunities to get the sweet stuff at birthday parties, scouting events and sports functions. Soda, sugary cereals and sweetened fruit drinks and yogurts should also be considered treats.
Give positive support: About 73 percent of teachers use candy to reward students. Encourage nonfood rewards by donating brightly colored pencils, erasers, stickers and key chains to your child's class.
Make sparkly juice: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting 100 percent fruit juice to 4 to 6 ounces a day for 1- to 6-year-olds, and to 7 to 12 ounces a day for those ages 7 to 18. Wean your child off sweetened drinks by mixing sparkling water with grape or apple juice. That way your child can have two of these drinks a day without surpassing the juice limit -- and this combination is more healthful than a sweetened fruit drink.
Limit TV: Reduce exposure to ads for sweetened foods and drinks by restricting TV to two hours a day and sticking to commercial-free stations or by playing videos or DVDs instead.
Avoid refined carbohydrates: "Chips, fries, white bread, rice and most prepared breakfast cereals are broken down to glucose in the bloodstream almost as quickly as sugar," says Dr. David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital, Boston. "The dramatic surge in blood sugar then drops quickly and can cause kids to overeat."
IN THE KNOW
Other names for sugar
• Dextrose
• Evaporated cane juice
• Fructose
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Glucose
• High fructose
• Corn syrup
• Honey
• Lactose
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Sucrose