How Much Sugar is Appropriate for Your Child?

Have you ever wondered how much sugar is appropriate for your child? A recent study by the American Heart Association entitled Added Sugars and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children,  published in the journal Circulation attempts to give guidance on this very issue.  The guidelines make a distinction between “Added Sugars,” which are sugars added to a food to increase palatability, and “Naturally Occurring Sugars,” which are an innate part of a food such as fruit.  The authors’ recommendations are as follows:

  1. Children should not drink more than 8oz of sugar sweetened beverages/week.
  2. Children/Adolescents should consume < 25grams (approximately 6 teaspoons) of  added sugars/day.
  3. Added sugars should be avoided in children < 2 years old.

“Added sugars” is one of the new categories to be included on the Updated Nutrition Facts Label promised by the FDA. Most manufacturers must comply to the new label by July 2018.

 

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2016/08/22/CIR.0000000000000439
http://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/labelingnutrition/ucm385663.htm