Added Sugars in Your Child’s Lunchbox by Whitney Vaughan
[adning id=”33097″]
Did you know that one Little Debbie Cosmic Brownie has the entire amount of added sugar your child should have in one day? One of those snack cakes, which often times is included in lunch as a dessert, has 24g of added sugar.
What is “Added Sugar”?
When “added sugars” are mentioned, we’re talking about additional sugar that’s been added to foods; not naturally-occurring sugars. The sugar in fruits can be sky high, but because they are naturally made in the foods, I would never limit how much I give my children. You can see additional sugars on the nutrition labels of foods listed as “added sugar” or simply ”sugar”.
Added sugar comes in many different forms. Check the ingredients list found below the “nutritional facts” box to see what form of sugar is being used in that particular food. Ingredients could be cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, maltose, sucrose, fructose, glucose, agave, honey, evaporated cane juice, molasses…just to name a few. It’s important to limit even the “healthy” sugars such as honey, agave or stevia leaf extract, as well. Moderation is key!
Recommended Brands
Have you considered checking the brands in your pantry to see if they include added sugars before packing your child’s lunchbox? It’s recommended that children over the age of 2 consume less than 25g of added sugar per day. (Children under the age of 2 shouldn’t have any added sugars.)
To help get you started, I’ve put together some healthier brands that are comparable to the foods our kids enjoy. Try natural peanut butters like Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter for the infamous & easy peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Their peanut butter is made with two simple ingredients…peanuts and salt whereas most other brands of peanut butter include sugar (listed as the second ingredient on most labels) in their spreads.
[adning id=”33207″]
Now, let’s talk juice. Honest Kids juice contains zero added sugar, but still offers the sweet taste of juice by using organic fruit juice. (There’s that naturally occurring sugar that was mentioned earlier in this article.) Other common brands of juice use sugar to sweeten their drinks which adds at least 3 grams of sugar per pouch.
Maybe your child is like mine and enjoys a hot lunch occasionally. Annie’s makes a can of “spaghetti o’s” called Bernie O’s that includes only 4g of added sugar whereas other leading brands contain 6g of added sugar per serving. Also, the added sugar found in Annie’s is cane sugar, but the other brand is using high fructose corn syrup.
Our Duty as Parents
As parents, we’re helping our children build habits. We want to make those habits as healthy as possible. Besides the health side effects of over consuming added sugars, what we feed our children at a young age will grow with them. Let’s help them make good choices that will last a lifetime.
I’m not saying to avoid all added sugars every single day of the year. There are times to indulge like school parties or special classroom treats occasionally, but is it really necessary to have added sugars in foods like ketchup, fruit juices, and peanut butter? I think not.
AGAIN…moderation is key!
[adning id=”33207″]
