Childhood obesity poses a serious threat to the long-term health of children around the world.
According to the World Health Organization, 39 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2020. This means that tens of millions of children around the world are facing a serious health problem and potentially chronic even before starting kindergarten.
The data on childhood obesity is undoubtedly alarming, but the good news is that obesity is preventable. Parents can provide nutritious foods to children and help them develop healthy eating habits from an early age, which could lay the foundation for a lifelong commitment to eating well.
One of the problems that parents may encounter when planning their children’s diets is foods that seem healthy, but are actually hidden sources of sugar. That’s a big deal, because Johns Hopkins Medicine notes that excessive sugar consumption is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease. Sugar consumption has long been linked to obesity, which is one of the reasons the WHO recommended in 2015 that people get less than 10% of their daily calories from sugar. At first glance, it may seem simple for parents to heed this WHO warning. However, various foods and beverages, including those that children generally love, are hidden sources of sugar. Identifying these foods and avoiding them or choosing versions that are not high in sugar can help children maintain a healthy weight.
Cereals: Parents may fondly remember overindulging in cereal with popular cartoon mascots on the box when they were kids. No matter how much nostalgia these memories may generate, parents should resist the temptation to recreate them for their own children. Indeed, many popular cereals marketed to children are loaded with sugar. However, even seemingly healthy cereals could be loaded with sugar.
Read nutrition labels before buying children’s cereal. Johns Hopkins Medicine recommends choosing cereals with 10 to 12 grams or less of sugar per serving.
Beverages: Drinks high in sugar like sodas, some juices and even some flavored waters increase the risk of overweight or obesity in children.
Encourage young people to drink more water and only serve sugary drinks on special occasions.
Packaged fruit: Here’s another food that looks healthy on the surface but could be anything but. WebMD notes that a one-cup serving of tangerines in light syrup contains about 39 grams of sugar. Offer fresh fruit instead of packaged fruit.
Sauces: Many children look forward to nights when pasta is the main course at the table. But even parents who serve whole-grain pasta could be unknowingly serving a significant amount of sugar if they’re not careful about the sauce they buy at the store. Some pasta sauces contain up to 12 grams of sugar per half-cup serving.
Barbecue sauces also tend to be high in sugar, which underscores the importance of reading labels before serving saucy dishes.
Childhood obesity is preventable, especially when parents learn to identify hidden sources of sugar that could endanger children’s health.