Eating too much sugar may not seem like a big deal, but sugar withdrawal has been shown to have similar effects to drug withdrawal — and it can cause psychological and physical harm, especially in children. To make it worse, parents are often unaware that their kids are consuming too much sugar because it is loaded into food that you’d expect to be relatively healthy.
For example, you wouldn’t pack five donuts in your child’s lunchbox, right? However, if you give your kid a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a fruit cup, and a Minute Maid apple juice, you are filling him or her up with nearly 80 grams of sugar. This amount of sugar is equivalent to 20 teaspoons. Those five donuts? 55 grams.
The point is to check food labels for the sneaky sugars found in processed foods, cereal, Gatorade, fast food kid’s meals, and other products that are targeted toward children.
An unhealthy amount of sugar can lead to many health risks that include:
- Tooth decay, which is the most common chronic childhood disease, according to the American Dental Association. Every time your child eats sugar, acid is produced, which attacks teeth for 20 minutes. This process leads to cavities.
- Obesity and obesity-related health issues, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, joint problems, and liver disease.
- Psychological problems such as anxiety and depression, and insecurity and low self-esteem for children who are obese.
- Malnutrition, because sugar contains calories, but no nutrients.
Kids under 18 years old should only consume 25 grams of sugar a day. So look for low-sugar alternatives, and if your kids are like mine, they are already sweet enough.
