what is too much sugar

[SylvieA]

I've been searching on the net on what is a good amount os sugar per serving for children. I haven't found anything. I've been looking at nutritional value guide when I buy snacks etc... I'm a bit concerned that he may be getting to much sugar. DS loves fig newtons and has 10grams of sugar per 2 biscuts. What do you think is in the healthy range. The other day he as 6 of them. And he knows where they are and will ask for them. I always try to give him something else which doesnt work all the time.

[Seona1973]

I have found this info on the UK Food Standards Agency website:


When you are checking food labels, you can use the following as a guide to work out if a food is high or low in sugar, per 100g.

Look for the 'Carbohydrates (of which sugars)' figure in the nutrition information panel on the label.

High is more than 15g sugars per 100g
Low is 5g sugars or less per 100g

If the amount of sugars per 100g is in between these figures, then that is a medium level of sugars.

Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects how much sugars you will get from it.

These figures can't tell you how much of the sugars come from milk or fruit and how much comes from added sugars.

Sometimes the figure you see in the nutrition panel is a total figure for 'Carbohydrates', and not for 'Carbohydrates (of which sugars)'. This means the figure will also include starchy carbohydrates.

So, to get a feel for whether the product is high in added sugars you might also need to look at the ingredients list.

Added sugars must be included in the ingredients list, which always starts with the biggest ingredient first. Watch out for other words that are used to describe added sugars, such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolysed starch and invert sugar, corn syrup and honey. If you see one of these near the top of the list, you know that the product is likely to be high in added sugars.

Some foods that you might not expect to have sugar added to them can contain lots, for example some breakfast cereals and cereal bars. Other foods can be higher in added sugar than you might expect, such as tins of spaghetti or baked beans.

[taygensmom]

I think the less sugar, especially added sugar, the better. Even if your LO eats a very "healthy" diet with foods that only contain natural sugars (i.e. fresh fruit), he or she will get more than what they probably need as far as sugar in a given day. I actually just read an article in Parents magazine talking about how much sugar is in our LOs typical meals. They were saying that a typical lunch of some juice, a PB&J sandwich, and a fruit cup contains about 16 teaspoons of sugar!!!! And that is in one meal! They also noted that when reading labels 4 grams of sugar equals approximately 1 teaspoon. When I think about it in those terms it really shocks me, as I would never ever think of giving my LO 16 teaspoons of straight sugar, but that is essentially what is happening, it is just "hidden" in other foods. Just thought this was very interesting and made me really thinka bout eliminating sugar, especially added or processed sugar, for only special treats once in a while...

[GG]

Taygensmom, I was JUST going to reference that article! 

I'll try to find it online and will add the link if I do.

[¤ Efka ¤]

I go with if there is no sugar good,if there is sugar then I try to not give him sugar thing later on.

[SylvieA]

Thanks for the info, very helpful. It is so hard finding food without all that sugar. Even baby cereals has tons of sugar, that i really don't get. Would you have any examples of nutritious snacks other than fruit, cheese and raisins.

[taygensmom]

I often give my LO yogurt, but not the store bought individual ones, as they are loaded with sugar. I just get plain wholemilk yogurt and then add either pieces of fruit or stage 2 pureed (ones without added sugar) to the yogurt. My LO loves it and there is no "extra" sugar involved! Other ideas for snacks are frozen mixed veggies, dried fruits, frozen bananas (fun summer treat), whole wheat toast/bread/crackers with peanut butter or cream cheese, or apples with a little peanut butter to dip.

If your LO is really attached to the fig neutons, you might consider not buying more for a while or just limiting to a special treat every few days... My LO loves graham crackers, which also are not really that healthy, so I just give occasionally and otherwise I present healthy options and if he eats, he eats, and if he chooses not to, he just waits until the next snack or meal. Because he knows that I will not give in or cave if he is wanting the graham crackers, he will usually find something that he likes from the choices provided. HTH