If Your Kid is Obsessed with Sweets…
Learn why many kids love sweets and how you can help them keep a healthy food balance.
“Every time I take my child to the grocery store, she begs and begs me for sugary cereal,” said Jennifer, a mom of two kids under the age of six. “I don’t want to go over-board with sweets and sugar, yet I don’t want to make them ‘forbidden fruit’ and contribute to her sugar cravings, either.”
If your child is constantly craving sugar, you may be worried. If your child over-indulges at parties or sleep-overs, the whole topic of sugar and eating sweets may feel overwhelming.
Some parents worry sweet food and treats are playing too big a role in their child’s diet. They fret that the exposure to sugar is getting out of hand (some of which they have little control over) and a sugar obsession is in the works.
Other caretakers struggle to see how much sugar their child is actually eating.
How Many Sweets are Okay?
When parents talk about the sweet foods and sugary treats, there’s often a cloak of guilt.
Should they be doing a better job of controlling them? Or should they give free rein and let their kid eat sweets until they’re satisfied?
What constitutes a sweet food anyway?
Candy? Lemon-ade? Spaghetti sauce? Yogurt?
Undoubtedly, American children love sweets. And, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), young Americans are eating too much added sugar.
In other words, eating sweets is becoming an undesirable cornerstone of the American diet.
In a 2012 study looking at the consumption patterns of added sugar in youth from 2005 to 2008, researchers found that boys ate more sweets than girls, and the types of sugary foods consumed came mostly from food rather than drinks. Additionally, sweets were mostly consumed at home.
Recently, some good news came out showing that during the span of 2001 to 2018, overall added sugar consumption has dropped among toddlers and children from roughly 15 to 12%, and in preteens and teens from 18 to 14% of total calories.
Still more than recommended, but on a downward trend.
Public Health Messages are Confusing
Statements like “eat less,” or “eat sweets in moderation,” or even “avoid all sweets,” may confuse parents, leaving them wondering exactly what they should do.
Especially if they feel their child has cravings or behaviors beyond the typical response to sweets and treats.
Some parents will fall into the ‘no sweets at all’ camp, eliminating every speck of sugar from the home. Their hope is to improve the situation and dull their child’s interest in them.
What often happens, though, is what Jennifer feared: a child who constantly craves sugar and becomes overly focused on it.
Other parents may know their child eats too many sweets, but they don’t know what to do about it. They fluctuate between having lots of treats around to having none at all.
They’re stuck in an unhealthy and unproductive pattern that doesn’t serve their child’s health.
Is a Sugar Addiction in Kids Real?
Sugar turns on the reward center in the brain. Dopamine, the feel good chemical, not only elicits good feelings, it tells your child to keep doing the thing that makes them feel good.
But can kids truly be addicted?
Not in the same way a person can be addicted to drugs. So you can rest-assured: There is no evidence that sugar addiction is a thing in kids.
However, some kids do love sweets and they demonstrate behaviors such as being more triggered by the sight or smell of food, and impulsive eating.
How Much Sugar a Day for Kids
There are a few things to keep in mind as you navigate sugary foods and treats for kids:
1. For children under the age of two:
For young toddlers, eating sugar shouldn’t be part of the regular diet at all.
In fact, if you can hold off on introducing them until after age two, you’ll get a head start on helping your child develop taste buds and a preference for healthier food while ensuring they have a nutrient dense diet.
I do think it’s okay for young ones to have birthday cake. All of my kiddos did. The main point, though, is to steer away from regularly offerings sweet foods in the first two years of life.
2. For older kids and teens:
Staying away from eating sugar is really hard, especially as children get older. This is one reason parents may get frustrated with them — they’re everywhere and trying to control them is impossible.
But it’s exactly why you need a plan for sweets at home.
Adding to the confusion are the two different recommendations regarding sugar intake in children. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) states that sugar should be less than 10% of the total daily calories.
The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests no more than 5% of daily total calories should come from added sugar.
Personally and professionally, I use the 90–10 rule. The idea is that 10% of calories in the daily diet come from sugary and fatty foods, the remaining 90% comes from nutritious foods.
You can read more about the 90–10 rule and in my other books, as well.
Why Do Kids Crave Sugar?
There are many reasons why a child might be drawn to sugary foods. For one, both amniotic fluid and breast milk are sweet and this presets a preference for sweet flavors.
I talk about this in my podcast interview with renowned flavor preference researcher, Dr. Julie Mennella.
Children also taste sweet flavors more intensively than adults, which can also trigger feel good chemicals (dopamine) in the brain.
Other reasons exist too, like needing more energy for body growth, and of course, hunger. Carbohydrates, which are found in high concentrations in sugary foods, signal energy and can quickly satisfy a hungry child.
Other reasons for gravitating to sweets include boredom, emotions, habits, and a positive association with eating sweets and treats.
Here’s How to Help the Child Who Craves Sugar
Despite having an idea of how to balance foods so that children eat mostly healthy food with small amounts of sweets, you may want some additional guidelines.
I’ve got some for you!
Keep perspective
Kids are naturally drawn to sweets, so it isn’t their fault if they like to eat them.
Don’t blame your child (or yourself) if his taste buds enjoy the taste of sugar. Rather, accept it as a natural part of the childhood nutrition experience.
That said, develop your sweets strategy! (Keep reading.)
Set boundaries
You can make sweets a part of your everyday life, or not. I always had a “no sweets during the school week” rule, and let my kids have more liberty with them on the weekends.
That worked well for us.
Some parents are more comfortable with offering them everyday (which is ok), and others are not.
Find your comfort zone where you can draw the line, giving consideration to what you can mentally and emotionally handle, and what is good for your child and the whole family.
Change the definition of sweet foods
Sweets don’t always have to equal sugary foods.
How about a bowlful of fruit with a dollop of vanilla yogurt?
Or a piece of peanut butter toast with a few chocolate chips perched on top?
The point is, “dessert” doesn’t have to be drenched in sugar. Even traditional sweet recipes can be scaled down to minimize the sugar rush.
If Your Child Seems Overly Triggered by Sugar…
Some kids may be more sensitive to food cues, such as the sight or smell of food. This is called being food responsive.
The presence of, and access to, sweets may be unhelpful for these children because they will have a hard time regulating eating behaviors.
In other words, for the child who is triggered by sweets or is more impulsive around sweet foods, having them around is just too much temptation. They will likely indulge and possibly lose control.
If this is your child, less is more. Consider removing the temptation if sweets trigger your child’s eating or cravings.
Offer other satisfying, nutritious snack options.
Also, set up predictable times for sweets to help your child know when they can be expected, and to avoid feelings of food restriction or scarcity.
How do you handle the sweet stuff in your house?
Need More Help Nourishing Your Child?
Check out my parent education website, The Nourished Child, full of workshops, classes and guidebooks to help you.
Originally published at https://thenourishedchild.com on October 14, 2022.
