The food choices you make for your baby can affect her weight and health outcomes throughout her life. When your child hits those picky-eater toddler years, keeping her healthy includes maintaining a close watch on her daily sugar intake. While some sugars occur naturally in foods toddlers like, such as fruit and dairy, the sugar added to processed foods for taste presents a bigger problem, because it can mount up quickly. Read manufacturers' labels carefully to keep your toddler's added sugar intake below 100 calories per day.
Tip
The sugar recommendation for toddlers is 25 grams — or 100 calories — of added sugar per day.
Sugar Recommendations for Toddlers
The American Academy of Pediatricians defines"toddler"as a child between the ages of 1 and 3 years. Although the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 does not make recommendations for infants and babies, theAmerican Heart Associationadvises that children under age 2 consume no added sugar at all. The AHA further recommends that all children from ages 2 to 18 limit their intake of added sugar to25 grams per day. That equals 6 teaspoons of sugar, or 100 calories. Following this guideline helps prevent health issues for growing toddlers such as obesity and risk factors for heart disease.
Read more:The Effects of Chocolate on Toddlers
Limit Daily Sugar Intake
您可能已经削减你的孩子的糖果和饼干消费 - 明显的罪魁祸首，当谈到糖。不太明显的来源，然而，包括其他食物共同为幼儿的饮食。在a review published in Pediatricsin 2015, the authors found that many foods geared toward toddlers, especially convenience snacks, contained added sugar, often in the form of "juice concentrate." Some of these snacks, the review noted, contain more sugar than a serving of ice cream.
当选择幼儿食品时，要特别留意在果汁饮料和碳酸饮料的含糖量;谷物及谷物棒;焙烤食品;冷冻甜点;并添加了水果和口味的酸奶。该报告AHA是否缺乏研究100-percent fruit juicespresent the same health concerns as drinks with added sugars; likewise, it points to a lack of research on artificial sweeteners.
The"Nutrition Facts"食品标签上现在列出总糖，添加糖，帮助你跟踪你的孩子的每日摄入量。例如，产品可包含12个克糖在服务，但只有一半的克来自添加的糖。校验the ingredients listfor words such as corn syrup, corn sweetener, fruit juice concentrate and any name ending in "-ose," all of which indicate added sugar.
Read more:Blood Sugar Levels in Toddlers
Choose Healthy Food for Toddlers
The first two years of life present the perfect opportunity for parents toinstill healthy eating patternsin their babies and toddlers, says a 2017 report from theHealthy Eating Research Project. Humans are born with a natural preference for sweetness, but they can learn to like the taste of sour and bitter foods like vegetables through repeated exposure.
Make sure your toddler gets most of his daily calories from whole foods likefruitsand vegetables.Snack foodsare the big challenge when you're pressed for time but trying to limit your toddler's sugar intake. Keep cut-up vegetable sticks on hand, like red peppers or carrots, to offer instead of a handful of cereal or a granola bar. Or, try fresh-ground nut butter with apple slices or banana.