I have previously wrote about the dangers of sugar here.
The American Heart Association recently took a hard stance on sugar and children. They recommend:
- NO SUGAR for children younger than 2 years old
- Less than 25 grams (6 teaspoons) of sugar per day for children ages 2 to 18 years
- No more than 8 ounces of sugar-sweetened drinks per week
While this may seem like a strict stance on sugar for some, but research has shown again and again how sugar can dramatically increase the risk of diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
Essentially, sugar can cause metabolic disease and heart disease (#1 killer of Americans), which will significantly impact our children's health.
As parents it's our responsibility to do what we can to keep our children healthy. We choose what they eat and what they don't eat. We need to make the right choices to give them the best opportunity to live a healthy and long life.
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Child obesity is an epidemic. And this isn't because 2 year olds are now driving themselves to Dairy Queen. It's because we have been making poor food choices for our children.
We don't want our kids to smoke, drink, or do drugs. We might want to consider sugar abuse in this category as well.
We should spoil our kids with love and affection, not with an addictive substance that is often abused.