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Food & Nutrition

What is the role of sugar in your child's diet?

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  • October 14, 2020
  • MKB Team

Is Sugar food for Babies? 

Sugar : A boon or a curse? As addictive and delicious sugary foods are, lets face it; they are THE MOST HARMFUL to health in the long term. Knowing how bad additional sugar can be, which mother would resist shielding her child from this universally accepted disease magnet? We know you would want to do everything in your power to make sure that your baby gets only the foods that help them grow into healthy big boys/girls.

So let’s get back to basics, shall we?

What is sugar ? And why is it an IMPORTANT part of everyone’s daily diet?

Sugar is a form of carbohydrate and provides our body with kilojoules (energy). It is a naturally occurring substance in many foods such as fruit, honey, vegetables, legumes and milk and is also added to many processed foods to improve taste and texture. No matter what form it takes – raw, white, brown etc., all sugar provides the same energy per gram and no significant amounts of vitamins and minerals.

CALORIES VS SUGAR

Apart from fibre, sugar has no more calories than any other ingredient. Sugar has four calories per gram, which compares to protein (four calories), alcohol (seven calories) and fat (nine calories).

So products with ‘reduced sugars’ or ‘no added sugars’ will only have fewer calories overall when compared to the original product, if the sugar is replaced with other ingredients containing fewer amounts of calories. This is something to check because it is not always the case – for example, if a manufacturer reduces the amount of sugar in a biscuit or cake the product still contains fat. This can often result in fat then making up a higher proportion of the total product weight. Because fat contains twice as many calories as sugar, the new product containing less sugar could contain more calories per 100g than the original.

 

SUGAR IN JUNK FOOD

The real danger comes from what’s known as ‘added sugar’. This means sugar, most commonly table sugar (the white, powdery stuff), honey and syrups, which is added to food and drinks while they are being made. Some foods in which you might find added sugar are fizzy drinks, chocolate, cake and ketchup. However, added sugar is lurking in all sorts of surprising places so we need to make sure we know how to spot it.

The high content of sugar in junk food can cause fluctuations in your baby’s blood glucose levels. This makes them edgy, sleepy and irritable throughout the day and leaves them with no motivation to be active.

Sugar is a major ingredient used in various types of biscuits, apart from imparting a sweet taste it also serves various functional properties in the processing of the biscuit dough. Cookies also have high sugar levels, here glucose or invert syrups are used together with sugar to keep the cookie texture soft and avoid the crisp texture which would be obtained with the use of sucrose alone. Sugar is also used in biscuit cream fillings in the form of icing sugar since the finer particle size gives a smoother mouth feel and a rapid dissolution of the sugar in the mouth. THAT IS A LOT OF SUGAR IN THE MAKING OF EVERY SINGLE BISCUIT.

 

We have listed some super easy alternatives to give the sugar a tough fight & not compromise of the taste of your baby’s food.

Instead of Offer
Pop, fruit punch and sports drinks Water (try adding lemon, lime, orange, or cucumbers slices or fresh or frozen berries)
Sweetened milk and yogurt drinks White milk or unflavoured soy, rice or almond BeveragesHomemade smoothies made with milk, yogurt and fruit Frog smoothie (spinach and fruit)
Sugary cereals and flavoured oatmeal Plain cereals such as bran flakes, oat “o” cereal, shredded wheat and plain oatmealAdd sliced banana or berries for sweetness
Flavoured yogurt, pudding and ice cream Plain yogurt with whole or pureed fresh or frozen fruit for sweetnessHomemade pudding with less sugar addedLayered yogurt pops
Cookies, packaged desserts, muffins and cereal bars Homemade baked goods made with less sugarTry pureed fruit like applesauce, prunes or 100% fruit juice as a sweetener instead of sugarBanana muffins two ways
Fruit gummies, chews or roll ups Fruit with yogurt dipDried fruit like apple, mango or pineapple slices with no added sugarAlmond butter spiced apple
Canned fruit in syrup Canned fruit in juice or waterFresh or frozen fruit

If you offer your baby any juice, we suggest that you offer 100% juice and give small amounts:

  • 1-6 year olds: no more than 125-175 mL (4-6 oz) juice per day
  • 7-11 year olds: no more than 250-375 mL (8-12 oz) juice per day

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Added sugars aren't a necessary nutrient in your baby’s diet. Although small amounts are fine, they can cause serious harm if eaten in large amounts on a regular basis. Or use healthier sugar alternatives in your baby's foods.

The best way to avoid hidden sugars in your baby’s meals is to make them at home so you know exactly what's in them.

However, if you need to buy pre-packaged food, make sure you check the label to identify any hidden added sugars, especially when buying foods that are in the alarming sugar amount category.


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MKB Team

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