What are the consequences of eating too much sugar for children? How can children eat sugar properly?

Children love to eat candy, and sweets are irresistible to them. So, what are the effects of children eating too much candy?

What are the effects of eating too much sugar on children?

1. Unbalanced nutrition

The nutritional balance of the human body requires the intake of different types of nutrients. The large intake of sweets can only provide calories to the human body. If you consume a lot of sugar every day, you will inevitably eat less other foods, and the intake of other nutrients will naturally decrease, which will cause nutritional imbalance in the body.

If children eat too much sugar, they will not want to eat. Over time, this will cause malnutrition and have an adverse effect on their growth and development.

2. Decreased vision

Surprisingly, right? Eating sugar can also affect your eyesight! As we all know, vitamin B1 can affect your eyesight. If you take in a lot of sugar, vitamin B1 will be consumed when the sugar is digested in the body, and the calcium content in the body will also need to be reduced.

If children eat a lot of candy, the calcium level in their bodies will decrease. If they are calcium deficient, the function of the retina will decline, their vision will deteriorate, and their myopia will become more and more serious.

3. Decreased immunity

I don't know if you have noticed that sweets can reduce the body's immunity. Eating a lot of sweets will weaken the ability of white blood cells in the human blood to phagocytize bacteria. Once the ability of white blood cells to phagocytize bacteria decreases, the bacteria in the body will accumulate, thus threatening the body's immunity. If a child's immunity is too weak, it is easy to get sick, so the amount of sugar a child eats should be controlled.

4. Withdrawn personality

Studies have shown that children who eat too much sweets may become withdrawn, unable to concentrate in class, have a wandering mind, and have poor academic performance. Eating too much sugar will increase the amount of pyruvic acid and lactic acid in the body, which will consume vitamin B1. At this time, the body's vitamin B1 is in short supply, and sugar metabolites will accumulate in the brain, causing the child to behave abnormally.

How old can babies eat sweets?

0-6 months: Babies under 6 months old can only metabolize simple sugars such as lactose and sucrose, so they can only drink milk; mothers only need to feed their babies breast milk or formula milk without adding sugar.

6-12 months: Babies over six months old begin to secrete amylase and have the initial ability to digest polysaccharide starch. Therefore, parents should add complementary foods to their babies in time when they are 4-6 months old. Parents should try to make complementary foods for their babies and let them eat as little finished food as possible. When buying finished complementary foods, they should try to choose low-sugar or sugar-free foods.

1-3 years old: The digestive function of babies in this age group is further strengthened, and the types of food they can eat are close to those of adults. As long as the baby is given a balanced intake of grains, vegetables and fruits, livestock and poultry meat, fish and shrimp, eggs, milk, beans and their products, the baby's needs for sugar, starch, dietary fiber and other nutrients can be guaranteed. For babies aged 1-3 years old, the best daily intake of artificially added sugar in food is about 10 grams, and no more than 20-30 grams. High-sugar foods such as candy, desserts, ice cream, sweet drinks, etc. can be used as a flavor adjustment for babies and eaten occasionally, but not every day.

The correct way for children to eat sugar

1. The amount of sugar that infants and young children consume per day should not exceed 0.5g per kilogram of body weight

Parenting experts say that the modern nutrition standard for healthy sugar intake is 0.5 grams of sugar per kilogram of body weight per day, which means that a baby weighing 10 kilograms should control the sugar intake within 5 grams per day. Specific ratios: a tablespoon of jam contains about 15 grams of sugar, a can of cola contains about 37 grams of sugar, 3 small pieces of chocolate contain about 9 grams of sugar, and an ice cream contains about 10 grams of sugar.

Another thing to pay attention to is fruit juice. Some fruit juices have a high sugar content, so when giving your baby fruit juice, you should control the amount and not exceed 150ml per day. It is also best to choose freshly squeezed juice instead of commercially available juice. Of course, it is best to let your baby develop a healthy habit of eating more fruit and drinking less fruit juice.

2. It is better to eat a handful of candy in one go than to eat it in several portions

If a person eats a small piece of candy every half an hour, within a few days, all his teeth will be rotten. This is because the bacteria in the mouth will be as active as a party when they encounter sugar. They interact with sugar to produce acid that corrodes teeth and causes tooth decalcification. It takes half an hour for the secreted saliva to neutralize these acids and help remineralize the teeth. If you continue to eat candy, your teeth will be in a state of decalcification and will soon develop into severe caries. Therefore, the key is to reduce the number of times you eat candy. Instead of eating a handful of candy several times, it is better to eat it all at once.

3. Babies who love to eat sweets should take good care of their teeth every day

Keep the oral cavity clean and remove the sugar residue on the teeth in time. After the baby's deciduous teeth erupt, parents can use cotton swabs or sterilized gauze dipped in warm water or tea to scrub each tooth; when the baby can rinse his mouth, he can rinse his mouth once a day with light salt water, light tea or sodium fluoride water; babies over 3 years old should develop the habit of rinsing their mouths frequently and brushing their teeth in the morning and evening under the guidance of their parents.

What to do if your baby loves to eat sweets

Reward policy. Your baby loves to eat candy? Don't worry about it, everything has its pros and cons. If your baby is a troublemaker who often makes people laugh and cry, and you are having a headache because of his overly independent personality, then great, the magic of candy will be immediately revealed. If your baby eats quickly and well today, reward him with a candy; if he knocks over the goldfish bowl tomorrow, you will have to deprive him of the right to eat candy. In this way, the baby will naturally try his best to do everything well for the sake of the sweet benefits.

Learning tools. Buy a bag of colorful chocolate candy beans, including red, yellow, blue, green, and other colors. When giving them to your baby, you can say, "Baby, eat a red one, mom, eat a blue one, and dad, eat a yellow one." After your baby has some understanding of colors, you can ask, "Baby, what color is this?" If the baby answers correctly, you can give him a candy. You can also let your baby ask mom and dad. This method not only satisfies the baby's desire to eat candy, but also allows the baby to recognize many colors. Because of the participation of mom and dad, the baby learns to share, killing three birds with one stone!

Story strategy. Tell your baby a story about the fact that eating too much sugar can cause tooth decay, so that the baby can have some understanding of the harm of eating too much sugar. Note that although it is a story, it should not be too exaggerated, and the baby should not be scared by it. After the story is told, let the baby propose a solution, such as: "The little cat ate too much sugar, and its teeth are all broken. The little cat has a terrible toothache and can't catch mice. What can we do? Baby, let's think of a way to help it." The baby knows from such a story that eating sugar can cause tooth decay. In the process of thinking of ways to help the little cat, the baby develops imagination and thinking ability, and cultivates the baby's sympathy. At the same time, you can take this opportunity to guide the baby to develop a good habit of brushing teeth in the morning and evening. It really has many benefits!

Candy substitute. There are many natural sweeteners on the market that can help prevent tooth decay, such as xylitol. Parents don't have to worry about giving their babies such candies. You can also give your baby more fruits, because they are also sweet and babies generally like them.

What should I do if my baby loves to eat candy? Parents should not force them to refuse, but use appropriate methods