Sugar! Americans consume more than ten metric tons of it every year. Soda may appear the obvious culprit – sugary drinks are the main source of added sugar in children’s diets – but yogurt, granola, salad dressing, sports drinks – all of these “healthy” foods contain added sugar. At last check, sugar was an ingredient in fully 74% of packaged foods.
Chronic Conditions
As added sugar infiltrates our food supply, children have started developing chronic conditions previously only seen in adults. Adult Onset Diabetes is now called Type 2 Diabetes, as the original name no longer fit, and pediatricians now routinely test their young patients’ blood cholesterol.
Research has uncovered associations between added sugars and increased cardiovascular disease risk factors among American children at intakes far below current consumption levels. Added sugars have been implicated as contributors to increased caloric intake, obesity and abnormalities of cholesterol and triglycerides.
How Much Sugar?
The American Heart Association, having analyzed the current research, recommends that children ages 2 to 18 consume ≤25 g (100 cal or ~6 teaspoons) of added sugars per day. To put this in perspective, the average can of soda contains over 40 grams of sugar.
Children under 2 should have no added sugar. It makes sense to get kids used to “nature’s candy” (real fruit) from a younger age. The taste for sweet, while inborn, remains adjustable. Consuming lots of unnaturally sweet foods, like candy and soda, primes the taste buds to want more sweet. By gradually weaning your family off of these heavily sweetened foods, you can actually re-train the taste buds to truly appreciate the sweet that comes from nature.
By Any Other Name
Manufacturers use confusing terms like “all natural organic cane juice” and “fruit juice concentrate” to fool consumers into believing that a product is good for you. Sugar packaged by nature in an apple or carrot is much different than “natural” sugar added
to a product packaged by the food industry.
Whole foods contain fiber, which slows down the release of glucose into the bloodstream, and vitamins and minerals that enhance their value to our health. 100% fruit juice, while now approved by the USDA to fulfill some of our daily fruit requirements, still consists mainly of just the fruit’s sugar, and should be limited.
The new Nutrition Facts Label, unveiled this past May and mandatory by July 2018, can help you make better choices about sugar. Important information about calories, serving size and servings per container (for those who still think a pint of Ben & Jerry’s is one serving) are in a larger font. We know we have a problem with portion sizes; this makes it more difficult to ignore. Serving sizes will now be more realistic, based on amounts that people actually eat or drink, not what they should be eating. By identifying added sugar, the new label will also make it easier to follow USDA guidelines for limiting it to less than 10% of total daily calories.
Associated Drawbacks
While added sugar may fit into an otherwise healthy diet, we know that few children – and possibly even fewer adults – can adhere the recommended limit. The scary truth is that sugary foods actually precipitate their own cycle of addiction. The instant rush you get from an infusion of cake or ice cream causes your blood sugar to skyrocket. Shortly thereafter, the pancreas responds by pumping insulin into the bloodstream to make use of this instant fuel supply, leading to a roller-coaster-like dip in blood sugar. This sudden drop makes us feel uncomfortable; we seek another sugary food to get that level back up. MRI scans have shown that food addictions can be as compelling as drug addictions.
Rising insulin levels associated with high sugar intake increase fat storage. Apart from the additional calories the sugars “trick” us into eating, our own hormones may start working against us, both via metabolism (insulin) and appetite control (leptin).
Dental cavities, strongly correlated with high sugar intake for decades, are no laughing matter. Research has shown that sugar may be the only cause of tooth decay. The World Health Organization recommends we keep our consumption of added sugar down to less than 5% of total calories. Public health officials in the US determined this level was “unrealistic,” although perhaps food policy changes could help save our children’s smiles and their health.
Elisa Bremner, MS, RD, CDN, is the Campus Nutritionist at JCCA/Pleasantville Cottage Schools, President of the Westchester Rockland Dietetic Association, and mom of two wonderful teenagers.
