How much sugar is too much sugar for my toddler?

[aggielocke]

I don't know about everyone else on here but I really don't know how much sugar is okay for my DS. I've read multiple articles and research papers but they can contradict themselves so I wanted some advice.

I know natural sugars are good so he has lots of berries, yogurts and juice pouches. But I don't want to limit him too much and create disordered eating from early on.

He's just started attending parties and so I let him eat the cake and sweets that are available. But now he's asking for more at home? Should I keep it to a weekend treat or is something small a day alright as well?

I'm just trying to prevent any food issues from forming early on but also want to encourage a healthy lifestyle.

Any advice?

For my first they only had small amounts of natural sugar. By the time I had my third I was more relaxed. If their eye started twitching I would suggest putting down the haribo.

Mine are 8,4,1 this is snack time and they opted for fruit instead of crisps about 10 mins ago. They eat 5-7 fruit and veg a day.

DON’T make sweets/chocolates/cakes coveted items. There is a space for everything in a healthy diet. Instead only buy the amount you would like them to have in a week and offer it up alongside fruit etc like it’s no biggie. Don’t react if she picks the cupcake; sometimes you want one instead of a smoothie too.

DO eat a good diet yourself. Kids will do as we do not as we say and she will copy your eating habits.

We don’t do healthy/unhealthy and good/bad food in our house because food is morally neutral. Instead what we do is explain what food “does” so there is food that helps our hair/nails grow, food that is good for repairing our bodies, food that keeps up full, food that helps us go to the toilet and there is food for the soul e.g stuff we eat just because it tastes good.

People are so surprised when they make chocolate the prize and then their kids gain a large amount when they move out. Well of course! They have no practice moderating themselves!

Natural sugars are not good - they’re just not as bad. Juice pouches are not healthy at all. Neither is any yoghurt apart from plain yoghurt. Mine only have whole fruit, and I avoid too many berries etc, and have lots of veg snacks. We keep sweet treats for weekend only.

I think it's a slippery slope once you let it in at the weekend then they want it in the week. I was strict about no sugar for my eldest two and they have healthy eating habits now. My youngest has a different dad who is much more permissive and my youngest will refuse the healthy stuff and rather starve so he gets the unhealthy stuff. My step kids were raised the same way and are obese. If I had full control I would ban sugar except for parties till school age and then have it limited (but the kids never knew it was banned so it didn't create issues with food). I think obesity is disordered eating too. Almost a quarter of reception age children these days are overweight/obese I think that's shocking

Natural sugar is just sugar. The body processes it as it does any other sugar. It's not 'good'. This is why juices aren't great. You get the sugar of several pieces of fruit with none of the fibre.
The only advantage to natural foods containing sugar over crap foods containing sugar are the additional vitamins and nutrients. The sugar itself is just sugar. Too much is not great

Agree

Wellll actually natural sugars are great brain food. So not exactly all bad! Fructose is bad that's the processed stuff.
It's the reason dementia/Alzheimer's suffered tend to just eat sugary food if left to it.
Not that I'm suggesting feeding tons of yoghurt and honey but it is actually good.

Berries are actually amongst the lowest sugar content of all fruits.

What's whole fruit? Is that opposed to half fruits?🤔

God, if I avoided berries my daughter would eat about 1 piece of fruit a week.

Everything in moderation. There is no harm in teaching them how to have sugar as part of a balanced diet. My daughter has a sweet tooth and probably has a small amount of chocolate every single day. My son doesn't like sweet things and will always opt for savoury snacks. Neither of them are overweight and their teeth are in good nick so I don't worry about it.

I don't worry about it. He drinks milk and water as well as the occasional smoothie or babyccino with a sprinkle of hot chocolate powder on top. He loves cake and chocolate and biscuits like any child does, and sometimes has these things. He eats a lot of yoghurt so I only buy Greek yoghurt or yoghurts with no sugar or artificial sweeteners. He enjoys an ice cream on hot sunny days.

The only things I don't allow at the moment as he's only 2 and a half, are any sweets that are sticky and chewy like haribos, chewy sweets, lollipops and so on. But some chocolate buttons here and there, a slice of banana loaf, or a digestive biscuit? Totally fine.

My son has sweets stuff every day. He has a healthy diet but it is in moderation.

Natural sugar isn't good, hence veggies are way healthy than fruit. But fruit is much better than fruit juice.

My 1 and 2yr old have fruit several times a day, but I try to give it alongside non fruit options, such as with cereal/toast/Crackers etc.

Neither had no processed sugar until their firsr birthday. Youngest hasn't had sweets. Oldest had her first sweets at an event just before her 2nd birthday. She's only had sweets a handful of times, in party bags or winning at fair games, I also give her a few from the pack over a few days.

Sweets/chocolate is not a regular thing. But if we have some cake/dessrt they'll get some. Might be 3 days in a row, then none for months. Tho most our junk is eaten after the kids go to bed.

As with everything in life - moderation. I would ditch the processed pouches and yoghurts and stick to fresh fruit. Natural yoghurt with a little honey stirred in, or homemade blended fruit purée, works well and is quick and easy.

I agree with some other posters to avoid making junk food prizes items. A bit of chocolate here and there is fine, no need to make a big deal about it. We tend to stick to having such foods outside the house and I don't buy them when I do the shopping. We make biscuits at home together and reduce the sugar content - occupies time and is better than shop bought. But equally nothing wrong with packet biscuits from time to time.

Completely missing the point but why are you giving pouches to a toddler?

Yoghurt pouches? My toddler eats pot yoghurts at home and yoghurt pouches on the go. They're always brands that are natural yoghurt with no sugar or artificial sweeteners. They're just handy- a peanut butter sandwich, pouch yoghurt and a banana are an easier snack/lunch on a walk in the woods than a flask of soup, carrot sticks and humous and a yoghurt with a spoon for example.

There are yoghurt pouches marketed to adults as well for convenience. Just easier sometimes.

Ah sorry, that's probably me reading it wrong. I thought of those fruit paunches aimed at babies

I give yogurt pouches too when out and about but don’t give juice. My older children have juice at parties and sometimes when in a cafe but I never have it at home. They don’t ask for it at home. I wouldn’t start buying sweets for home, for us they are treats at a party, after swimming or when at a special place/trip. I don’t have bags of Haribos in the house. My friend’s toddler has started climbing the kitchen cupboards to find sweets and now asks for them non stop every afternoon.

as others said everything in moderation, I am
generally very relaxed on holidays (kids have ice creams every day etc) but more strict at home. And they are too young to go to shop themselves to buy donuts. Generally I would keep sweets and biscuits etc to a minimum in the house.

the other thing to consider, is that lots of young children have damaged teeth and how bad sugar and juices are for their teeth.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/08/number-of-children-having-rotten-teeth-extracted-in-english-hospitals-rises-17

Do people not realise lots of berries are quite low in natural sugar due to the high water content? Bananas are worse than raspberries, strawberries and blueberries if memory serves me right. But I bet most people dish out bananas on a daily basis.

Loads of goodness in fruit, as well as natural sugar. Not much goodness in refined sugary snacks full stop. It's about balance.

No food is off limits here. We don't have much refined sugar stuff in but I don't bat an eyelid at party or in a coffee shop if she'd like a pastry or a cake. Although if we went a couple of times in a week I might suggest she has a cheese twist or some toast not a chocolate croissant every time. And she has warm milk not a hot chocolate (she's only 3).

@aggielocke I would also offer other fruit not just berries.

Berries are very low sugar

Surely it's all about moderation.

This is what my 5.5 yr old has in terms of sweet things. Please tell me if it’s too much.

Breakfast: piece of fruit, then either: 2 pieces of wholemeal toast with honey or no-added sugar muesli (with raisins) or wholemeal pancake with honey/jam. Occasionally she’ll have an egg but mainly weekends.

lunch: normal varied lunch -she chooses at her school which I love. Followed by pudding most days eg shortbread, oat biscuit, ice-cream, jelly or cake. Sometimes she says she opts for fruit if it’s tropical, or yoghurt (tho I assume yogurt is sugary one)

A piece of fruit when I pick her up, then a small sweet thing when she gets home from school (I have a tub), crica 5g sugar eg 2 small cookies, a mini flapjack I made, brownie ball (dried fruit and nuts with honey) or 4 v thin slices of malt loaf with butter.

normal tea then some defrosted berries or some other fruit after.

Then we do proper puddings at weekends such as crumble and custard or cake or ice cream in a cone. if she gets an ice cream or cake during the day on a weekend I say this is instead of pudding tonight and she agrees.

Then she is allowed whatever she wants when she goes to a party. I say knock yourself out love it’s a party. This is the only time she is allowed sweets. (Apart from Halloween and Christmas).

easter eggs at Easter and we put treats in her stocking at Xmas.

whenever anyone does that thing at school where they give the teacher a huge bag of hair o for each child I just say yes you can eat it. I was horrified at first that other parents did this but I’m letting it be a lesson for me in chilling out.

when we go on holiday we are more relaxed. Eg camping she can have a few toasted marshmallows every night with a biscuit or two (smores), an ice cream every day.

Then please tell me if this is too much for my two year old. She has just started nursery and I’m completely befuddled as to whether to say it’s ok for her to have the pudding at teatime. I was a lot stricter with my older one when she was 2. Plus her nursery was a healthy one and didn’t do puddings. I feel like my 2 yr old is now having more sugar than her sister did. pudding at nursery (2 days a week), then she is exsposed to all the same sugar as her sister eg the small treat after school, and puddings at weekends, the sugar on holidays and at parties she gets the cake and I say she can have 1 or 2 haribo (as she sees it and goes mad if she doesn’t get one). I give her a smaller portion eg half what her sister has for all the above as she is half the size of her. But it’s all relative, it’s still sugar. Gah.

is this too much sugar?

I feel like there are more important things in life to worry about, but I feel like I can’t not think about it. So many kids are overweight everywhere. Don’t want to give them bad habits but equally don’t want them to be too restricted.

my husband says we’be got it about right, but I really don’t know!

thanks

haribo not hair 😂

I think the key is to not overthink it.
We never have pudding for example so that already eliminates quite a lot of sugar, we only have squash, water and milk to drink and my kids like vegetables so it's quite easy.

They're also no stranger to a chocolate brioche, a banana or a cereal bar for breakfast... balance.