Few other dietary issues get parents excited quite like sugar. On one hand you have those parents who treat sugar like the devil’s cocaine, and will chew your ear off if you dare offer their kid a cookie. At the other end you have those parents who think nothing of letting their kids binge on sugar all day long.
Concerns about kids & sugar
Sugar isn’t the poison some parents make it out to be, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t cause for concern. A diet that’s too heavy in sugar can alter your child’s taste perception and make natural, healthier foods seem less appealing. High-sugar foods tend to deliver empty calories, worsening the child obesity epidemic. And studies show we’re eating far too much of the sweet stuff, which can trigger any number of adverse health effects. Like pretty much everything else related to diet, the key is moderation.
Are kids eating too much sugar?
Most American families are consuming far too much sugar, in large part because of diets that are heavy on processed foods. Estimates are that Americans consume anywhere from 65 to 100 pounds of added sugar per year, with most estimates coming in on the higher end of that. That’s more than 3-times the recommended daily average, and kids often consume just as much sugar as adults (frequently more), so they’re getting a much higher dosage per body weight.
One study, for example, found Americans eat around 77 pounds of added sugar annually. That’s 22.7 teaspoons a day. To put this in perspective, that amount would equal the natural sugar contained in each of the following: 7 red apples, 27 ears of corn, 454 eggs, or 1,135 cups of rice. (Cohen, 2013) The average American teen boy consumes in the neighborhood of 35 teaspoons of added sugar per day, according to the CDC.
Information about sugar & its effects on kids
The following pages will delve into sugar and its effects on your family’s health in greater detail: