Shocking! How Sugar Affects Your Kid’s Health

Ice cream, birthday cakes and cookies are usual treats while considering the kids’ diet, but did you know about 16 percent of children and teen ager’s daily calories are coming from added sugar?

Too much sugar can ground tooth decay, increase the risk for obesity with hyperactivity and type 2 Diabetes. Yet parents are not aware of the fact that, all that sugar can also cause other chronic health problems – which otherwise can be avoidable.

Cold, cough and allergy  Shocking! How Sugar Affects Your Kid’s Health

One of the most common effects that sugar can have on children is cold-like symptoms, and complains of chronic runny noses, excessive mucus, cough and sinus infections.

Some kids are even diagnosed with allergies, which may actually due to too much sugar.

Croup (breathing difficulties) and Acid Reflux

Some children even have recurrent breathing difficulties. These kids go to bed apparently healthy, but wake up in the night with a barking cough with breathing trouble.

The reason is most of these children have a habit of drinking chocolate milk all over the day. This combination of dairy and sugar takes longer time to digest and which is highly acidic also. It means the food comes back up through the esophagus, touches the vocal cords and causes a laryngospasm.

Often it seems, kids diagnosed with acid reflux are the outcome of over medications which block the stomach natural secretion of acid and mask symptoms.

“May be they are consuming 10 times more acid every day than required amount.”

Weakened immunity

The body’s microbiome is constituted of trillions of good bacteria which digest food, create vitamins and protect the body from germs and disease.

But, when kids consume too much sugar, it makes imbalance between good and bad bacteria and weaken the immune systems.



Poor dietPoor Diet Food

Children who don’t eat fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods are may not be particular in eating at all. They are just loading on too much sugar which can cause stomach-ache and poor appetite.




So, How to cut down

Reducing the consumption of sugar is a good idea, Here are some simple changes you can make.

  1. Avoid packed juice.

Though Juice container says “100 percent juice,” “organic” or “no sugar added,” it doesn’t mean it’s healthy. In fact, usual juice pouch contains about 22 grams of sugar.

As an alternative use water or carbonated water and add slices of cucumber, berries or orange to taste.

  1. Cut down liquid sugar.

No doubt sodas are obvious one, but avoid added sugar in orange juice, sports drinks and smoothies. Water should be sufficient to re-hydrate if your child is sports player.

  1. Avoid Yogurt in the evening.

Offer yogurt during the day, and not before bedtime. Check labels to make sure sugar isn’t included as one of the ingredients. Offer plain yogurt and fresh fruits instead.

  1. Educate healthy eating.eating-fruits

Make your kid to eat healthy food rather forcing them to eat it. “It’s not just about controlling their environment, but it’s making them healthier habits so they can start engaging themselves their own,”

  1. Swap sugar.

We as parents need to look at smart substitutions that our kids to eat, so instead of Ice creams, freeze plain Greek yogurt, put in with fresh fruit or apple sauce instead of sugar in your diet.