Children and Sugar
Sugar is everwhere today. Not only is it in desserts and candy but it is in bread and condiments as well. It is very easy too eat too much sugar without even trying. The other fact is sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and artificial sweeteners can be addictive. It is our job as parents to monitor our children’s intake of sugar to help set them up for a healthy life!
We want to make our kids happy and It’s fun to give your child treats. However too many treats on a regular basis will not make our kids happy in the long run. Not only are sugary sweets disruptive to healthy bodies but promote such things as anxiety and depression, skin issues and fatigue as well. Giving them the gift of a good self-esteem when they have a healthy body and mind will make them happy and keep them happy for life!
Hopefully we all know foods such as ice cream, cake, candies, cookies etc. have sugar. But I think there are other sabotages you need to be aware of. What is the biggest mistake people make with their children? I believe that it is sugary drinks. This is not just about soda. Fruit juices and fancy coffee drinks are loaded with sugar. Our kids need water! Not sugar and definitely not caffeine.
Myth – fruit juice is healthy. Google this and you will come up with many articles about the fact that fruit juice is not as healthy as we think. It is mostly sugar. Yes it is fruit (very little fruit), which is good for us, but then eat a piece of fruit instead. This will give you the vitamins that the fruit contains plus the fiber and less sugar than the juice. You need to think of fruit juices as sugary drinks. We drink very little juice at our house. It is considered a treat.
Sugar and high fructose corn syrup are everywhere. Look at the foods you buy at the store and read the labels. Foods that we wouldn’t think would have sugar have plenty. Crackers, bread, soup, ketchup etc. all have sugar. We are eating sugar and we don’t even know it!
We do have sugar in our house but I try to promote mostly healthy food choices for my family. Hopefully I have been sucessful teaching my children how to eat a well balanced diet. We eat a lot of veggies and healty protein.
I want you to think about sugar as this, every time you give your child sugar (fruit juices, soda, desserts) you are basically telling its little body to store energy. Not only to store it but turn into a machine that always stores food no matter what you feed it. Turn your kids into energy burners instead by giving them real food and getting them moving!