Kids and Sugar - Creating Little Addicts
It’s easy to lose track of how much sugar our children are actually consuming. On a random day my children will have an ice pop at a neighbor’s house, candy as a prize from their Geography class and a rice crispy treat from the bake sale after classes. I didn’t plan for any of those sweets, they just found my kids. That’s living in today’s world! We don’t hide from it, but we do adjust for it. Sugar will find my children.
To adjust for the sugar that will inevitably find my children (and that they will happily consume), I keep our house (mostly) sugar and ultra-processed food free. That way I’m not adding to the sugar that they are no doubt already consuming. Because sugar will find them, and it all adds up quickly. We may not even realize our children are sugar junkies because we’ve lost track of what they’re actually eating.
My recovery has enabled my children to eat less sugar. they are no longer caught in the cross-fire of my milkshake cravings, eating excess sugar because their Mom had to get her hit. Now, they get treats like any other kid, but it’s not because their Mother is actively addicted to sugar and can’t stop eating it.
The kinds of health issues that are tied to consuming excess sugar and processed foods should never be experienced by a child. It’s already hard enough being a kid! Children have so much to navigate and acclimate to, so much to learn and so many new and hard things to conquer. Why add disease and obesity to the list?
In his book The Blood Sugar Solution, Mark Hyman talks about the devastating problem of childhood obesity in America. He says, “Perhaps most disturbing, our children are increasingly affected by this epidemic. We are raising the first generation of Americans to live sicker and die younger than their parents. Life expectancy is actually declining for the first time in history.”
Dr. Mark Hyman goes on to say, “One in three children in America is overweight. We are now seeing eight-year olds with diabetes, fifteen-year olds with strokes, and twenty-five year olds who need cardiac bypass.”
PCOS, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, and on and on. Our children are not immune to these conditions. Earlier and earlier in their little lives they are experiencing diseases that were once reserved for mid-life and beyond.
We need to help our children understand how to navigate the food environment they are growing up in. Our children will be physically healthier, more mentally resilient, and more emotionally strong if we can help them make good food decisions in today’s confusing food environment.
And it’s so confusing! The other day my children and I were at the store and my son asked for a bag of chips. My response was, “Sure, if you share them with your sister.” He response was, “Sharrre??” I turned the bag over and showed him the back where the serving size was listed.
The small bag said 3.5 servings! Big Food companies are deceiving our children. They are selling multiple servings in a bag, and because it’s a tiny amount of food that packs a serious calorie/saturated fat/sodium punch (enough for three adults!) our children will eat the whole thing, and as a result will consume way more than is healthy for them.
Who picks up a 3.5 oz. bag of Fritos and only eats 1 oz? Not my kids! Eating a third of a tiny bag of chips is not realistic, and the food industry knows it. They successfully make their unhealthy food look relatively harmless by splitting up their ingredients by serving size, drastically minimizing each category; knowing full well that a child will not be consuming 1/3 of the bag, but the entire bag.
Food that is marketed to children is loaded with sugar and ingredients not fit for their growing bodies. Today’s children have dessert several times a day. They don’t actually sit down to a piece of cake multiple times a day, but what they are consuming is, in effect, dessert.
When our kids have dessert for breakfast (let’s call that sugary cereal what it is!) we are setting them up for blood sugar instability throughout the day. That bowl of cereal will have their blood sugar crashing hard in a couple of hours, and their energy levels with it.
Now, they will need more sugar to counteract the slump, and the cycle continues. Numerous studies show that kids are negatively affected by eating high-glycemic foods for breakfast. High-glycemic foods are the foods that spike blood sugar and leave our kids crashing and looking for more energy. Think frozen french toast sticks, sugary cereal, and even popular “healthy” yogurt brands.
Life is busy! I know it’s far easier to pour a bowl of cereal for our kids than make them an egg, but at what cost? I want my children to thrive, and starting their day with a sugar spike is not a good way to make that happen.
Making an egg takes two minutes. Reheating some oatmeal and adding a touch of honey, coconut oil and cinnamon takes two minutes. Pouring a big glass of ice cold milk to wash it all down takes 30 seconds. Now my kids are fed (and fueled!) to start their day!
When we feed our children healthy food that nourishes their body and works alongside their delicate hormonal system we are saving their lives. We are saving their future. When we put good, whole food onto their plates and into their mouths we are making deposits into their future health.
Real food, protein, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, unrefined and minimally processed grains and carbs, lots of water and physical activity are what children need.
When we limit ultra-processed foods and added/refined sugar in their diets their brain responds in a healthy way and they naturally want food that is good for them. Children don’t crave what their body doesn’t need if their system hasn’t been (overly) subjected to it.
Children need our help to be healthy. Take the time to empower yourself so you can help your children. Learn what foods will support their growing bodies and brains. Listen to podcasts, read books, talk to a physician you trust who knows the power of food. Knowledge is power! Help yourself and your family thrive when the default in our current food environment is to falter.
And It’s About So Much More Than Just Physical Health
Life can get hard, overwhelming, underwhelming, emotional, and more even (especially?) for a child. I want my children to know the truth: That sugar is not a solution. Eating sugar distracts us for the moment and then leaves us depleted, weak and addicted. I don’t want my children to believe the lie that sugar can give them comfort with no strings attached. I believed it in the past, and it’s wildly inaccurate.
There is so much value in dealing with the hard things in life as they are handed to us. We are stronger than we know, and the momentary relief that a sugary treat provides renders us weak.
Resilience and strength come from facing our feelings head-on. We were not created by God to need chocolate to soothe us. We were not created by God to need sugar to overcome stress.
Teaching our children to self-care now is powerful, and its benefits will last far beyond childhood. Think about how their life stresses and problems will change as they grow. Every hard thing that comes their way is an opportunity for them to grow and thrive and become more resilient.
My prayer is that my children choose the hard way instead of the easy way, whether the easy way looks like sugar, drugs, alcohol, relationships, or anything else. Because I know from experience that taking the hard way is the only way that leads to thriving and freedom.
In Freedom,
Sarah Grace
