We have already talked about what you need to know about Children & snacks. Let's now talk more about sugars: i children should not consume more than 4-5 teaspoons of sugar per day, word of the World Health Organization. A quick calculation is enough to check if our children exceed the threshold of attention.
For this reason we decided to make a raid among the most popular foods of the daily diet, to calculate how much sugar our children can potentially take in one morning – breakfast + snack (here the suggestions for a good breakfast for fat children).
We offer you a series of ideas based on the simple observation of the labels of the most common foods. Then each, adding the amounts of carbohydrates (and in particular sugars), will be able to evaluate whether to recalibrate the family's food day.
The premise is that i sugars they are essential for the functioning of ours bodybecause they are a quick and direct source of energy; however, everyone now agrees that excess calories will eventually cause obesity.
Naturally not all sources of sugar are the sameFor example, fruit and cereals are also rich in nutrients and fibers, so they are qualitatively more valuable than juices, snacks and sweets.
Another factor on which attention must be paid to judge sugars is that they cause changes in the body's acidity. In the mouthfor example, changes in pH and the proliferation of bacteria caused by sugars damage the enamel and cause caries. At the level intestinal and urinary, moreover, there may be alterations of the bacterial flora, with subsequent inflammation.
Briefly put the due premises that motivate why sugars in the diet should be limited, let's move on to the facts and calculate how many we take in the early hours of the day.
Before starting with the calculations, however, it still needs to be clarified that in this list the values are very little absolute: each of us, to get an accurate idea of how many sugars it consumes, should carefully read the labels and make the due sums. Moreover, even if we do not mention any brand in particular, we specify that the choice fell on the most common brands on the market.
The drinks have not been inserted deliberately, because we assume that they are an exception and not a habit. And we did not dwell on the fact that every time we read corn syrup, fructose or malt on the label it is always sugars and even that they hide in unsuspecting foods like canned vegetables and ketchup …
Without all the necessary premises, let's go straight to the data.
To start, our basic unit of measure is 1 teaspoon of sugar, or about 15 g of sugar and that, to simplify the calculations, we will round up a little.
THE NUMBERS
- 3 cookies: we consider a total weight of about 30 g (10 g a biscuit) and a total average of 6 g of sugars (the carbohydrates in this case are higher) = 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
- 1 jar of yogurt small: 100 g corresponds to about 15 g of carbohydrates (and in this case the amount of sugar is identical) = 1 Teaspoon
- 1 apple fresh: about 120 g which corresponds to 12 g of sugar = 1 Teaspoon low
- 2 tablespoons of dried apples: about 20 g = 18 g of carbohydrates = 1 teaspoonful of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of dried fruitor about 20 g can correspond to 0.8 g of sugar in the case of pine nuts and 1.6 in the case of pistachios, all the others are placed in the middle = 1 tip of a teaspoon of sugar.
- 5 dried plums: 40 g, 21 carbohydrates including 12 sugars = 1 small spoon.
- 1 small cup of milk: 200 g, are about 5 carbohydrates of which sugar 5 g = 1/3 of a teaspoon.
- 1 Twinkie classical = the weight varies from 25 to 40 g and the amount of sugar can grow from 5 to 20 g = so from 1/3 to 1 whole teaspoon.
- 2 teaspoons of Spreadable cream chocolate: 30 g contain 18 g of sugars = 1 teaspoon abundant.
- 2 rusks = 16 g, or 1.2 g of sugars (12 g of carbohydrates) = 1 pin of sugar.
- 4 tablespoons of cereals of puffed rice = 40 g, are 3.2 g of sugars (34 g of carbohydrates) = 1/4 teaspoon of sugar.
- 1 chocolate bar and cereals weighing 23 g, corresponds to 11 g of sugars = 1 small spoon.
- 1 glass of fruit juice, ie 200 ml: depending on the juice corresponds to 15-20-30 g of sugars.
Now that we have a bit 'of numbers we try to make the composition of one Breakfast it's a snack
Breakfast: 1 cup of tea with 2 teaspoons of sugar + 3 biscuits + 1 apple = 3.5 teaspoons of sugar
Snack mid-morning: 1 snack + 1 fruit juice = 2,5 teaspoons of sugar
We have reached a total of 6 teaspoons of sugar, or the hypothetical child has already exceeded the recommended amount.
But if, for example, the breakfast, which continues to be an essential meal, was made up of milk, cereals and a portion of dried fruit, the amount of sugar would be under the spoon. The disadvantage is that for some a sober breakfast would be unattractive.
In addition to the taste factor, playing a fundamental role is also the practicality. To give an example on all: mothers know that fruit juices or dried fruit are more comfortable than fresh fruit that should be peeled, cleaned and often treated with lemon to become dark. And at school you risk dirtying the desk. The price to pay is in terms of carbohydrates and calories.
The invitation is to play with the numbers, to calculate how much sugar we consume every day and maybe change some habits.
By the way, for those who want to do a couple of calculations per se: the recommended amount of sugar per le women is 6 teaspoons and for the men it's 9.
Barbara Roncarolo
September 28th 2015
updated October 2018
from Stella Rita
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