Hidden sugars in kids' diets: A health warning for parents

The harmfulness of sugar is widely known. Despite this, many of us still reach for products containing far more sweet substances than we should. Children particularly like some of them. Unfortunately, it's not just about chocolate bars.

Scientists and dietitians constantly appeal to limit sugar in the diet. This warning primarily concerns parents who are responsible for what their children eat. Unfortunately, to this day, many of us forget that sugar is not only found in sweets but also other seemingly harmless products. It's not so bad if children eat them only occasionally. It is worse if they reach for them even daily. Sorry — go for them? We give them to them ourselves, convinced we're doing nothing wrong. Appearances can be very deceptive in this case.

The effects of consuming too much sugar are not hard to come by. Adding sugar to tea is just the tip of the iceberg. Sugar is a common addition even in food products where we wouldn't expect it.

The first example is ketchup, which is loved by both children and adults. We often forget: we spend a lot of time choosing the best quality hot dogs, only to serve them to children with ketchup containing an alarming amount of sugar. Government sites even inform about this danger. On the portal pacjent.gov.pl, it was calculated that one tablespoon of ketchup contains even half a teaspoon of sugar. Terrifying, right? And this isn't the end of this alarming list.

The second product children reach for regularly, which contains vast amounts of sugar, is breakfast cereals. Cereal products are considered healthy (and they are), but what manufacturers do with their composition is outrageous. Sit down before you read this. In one serving of cornflakes, there are even... 7 teaspoons of sugar.

It's said that habit is second nature to man. This proverb should be considered when setting the daily menu for children. The sooner kids get used to large amounts of sugar in their diet, the greater the likelihood of, first, addiction to this substance and, second — associated health conditions.

It's worth remembering that a large amount of sugar in a child's diet can lead to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and even cancers in the future. There is also something else. Overconsumption of sugar causes a loss of appetite for other dishes from which the youngest derive essential nutrients. This, in turn, is associated with further potential health risks!