Babies under two shouldn’t eat added sugar at all – study

PanARMENIAN.Net - Babies and tots under two should eat no added sugar at all and older children should have the equivalent of a maximum 100 calories per day, AFP reports citing recommendations from the American Heart Association (AHA).

U.S. children eat three times as much added sugar as they should, the AHA said Monday, August 22, calling for stricter limits on sugar for kids.

That would mean no cakes, cookies or ice cream for children until their second birthday, and fewer than six teaspoons (25 grams) per day of added sugar for those aged two to 18.

It would also require most kids to eat about one-third of the added sugar they currently consume, often in the form of soda and sweetened cereal, according to the guidelines published in the journal Circulation, AFP says.

U.S. kids and adolescents eat an average of 19 teaspoons of added sugar per day, said the AHA report, citing national survey research.

"Eating foods high in added sugars throughout childhood is linked to the development of risk factors for heart disease, such as an increased risk of obesity and elevated blood pressure in children and young adults," said the study.

The new guidelines aim to offer a simpler recommendation than the previous AHA statement in 2009, which urged different limits according to various age groups.

Children should not drink more than one eight-ounce (237-milliliter) sugar-sweetened drink per week, she added.

The AHA did not make any recommendation about no- or low-calorie sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharine and sucralose in the diets of children because of a lack of research on their potential benefits and dangers.