Healthy Snacks for Kids - Hidden Sugars!

How healthy are your healthy snacks for kids? To make sure that your child is getting healthy food you have to learn how to read labels. So today I would like to talk about hidden sugars. Do you know how much sugar your child eats a day?

An average American child eats the equivalent of 20 teaspoons of sugar a day, according to figures from the most recent federal Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals. Nearly 60 percent of this intake, says the trade group The Sugar Association, is from corn sweeteners, used heavily in sodas and other sweetened drinks. Another 40 percent is from sucrose (table sugar), and a small amount comes from other sweeteners, such as honey and molasses.

A child should not get more than 10% of total calorie intake in sugar. That means, if your child gets around 1000 calories a day, there should be not more than 6 teaspoons of sugar.

So, why is sugar so bad for your child? Sugar not only bad for the teeth, but also research shows that sugar and refined carbohydrates are detrimental to your health in a multitude of ways, including increasing the risk of many chronic disorders including diabetes, obesity, heart disease and breast cancer.

But where does your child gets 20 teaspoons of sugar from? You'll be surprised when I tell you how much sugar there is in a simple common foods that our kids eat every day.

I think the worst out of all of them is Coca Cola. In a regular Coca Cola there is 10 teaspoons of sugar! So, when your child is asking you for a drink give him a apple juice with 50% added water. You child doesn't need extra sugar.

Cupcakes - how about 5 1/2 teaspoons of sugar. Not a healthy snack for kids.

Applesauce has 3 1/2 teaspoons of sugar added. Make sure to read a label. For your kid buy an applesauce with now sugar added.

Hershey candy 1 bar - 7 teaspoons.

Even in the whole wheat bread can be sugar. 2 slices of bread have 1 or 2 teaspoons sugar added. Check the label to make sure there was no sugar added. If you have any great healthy snack tips for kids, please let me know.