Can children (infants) sugar?

Today from all sides: from pediatricians, dentists, endocrinologists and even psychologists young parents hear the opinion that sugar is able to bring the children’s body and cause serious illness.

Experts from the screens and pages of various magazines in one voice are advised to postpone the moment of meeting the baby with this product.

But the harder, the more questions: “What is wrong with this product?”, “When did you start to offer sugar baby?”, “If he’s so harmful, then what substitutes can I use?” etc. Let’s try still to understand this topic, and find out what is so terrible is hiding under the sweet white crystals, and whether they are able to bring at least some benefit to the human body?

What is white sugar?

Today on store shelves and in our kitchen cabinets is most often found snow white refined sugar, which is produced by the deep cleaning of the beet or cane materials. In the process of production of white crystals of sugar are removed impurities, thereby reducing its nutritional value, but retained the sweetness and high calories – about 398 calories per 100 g product.

When ingested, sucrose, as a simple carbohydrate immediately split into:

• fructose;
• glucose.

For absorption by cells of glucose pancreas releases the necessary hormone, insulin. The part of sugar that was not used by the body to produce energy, stored in adipose tissue.

It should be noted that a sharp increase followed by a rapid decrease in blood sugar levels has a very negative effect on the pancreas, which have to work in the “transcendent” mode. And for the child’s body these swings are generally comparable with a stressful situation.

With regular consumption of sweets increases the risk of problems with carbohydrate metabolism, manifested later overweight and diabetes. And this is just the tip of the “sweet of the iceberg.”

The harm of sugar for babies

Of course, every growing and active toddler requires carbohydrates, and refined sugar is one of the most affordable sources of fast carbs. However, according to studies, the sucrose can have a negative impact on the child’s body.

In particular, sugar is capable of:

1. To cause dependence and damage taste buds. The baby very quickly addicted to unhealthy food, if he originally offered sweetened water, and porridge. According to the research, children in which diet there was no sugar until the age of three, immune from love any kind of sweets for the rest of my life. Conversely, those children who are accustomed to the sweetened dishes, as a rule, refuse fresh food, and constantly demand from parents all new batch of treats. This is because glucose triggers the production of hormones of happiness – endorphins, which quickly evaporate.
2. To provoke a set of excess weight. High calorie sugar along with excessive its use inevitably increases the mass, this is especially true at low physical activity.
3. To contribute to the emergence of eating disorders. Sweets can have different effects on the body, but rather on appetite to suppress it or to artificially boost.
4. To provoke the development of dental problems. Sweet environment in your baby’s mouth is a favorable home to bacteria that produce acids which destroy tooth enamel of milk, and later, and future permanent teeth. Tooth decay and the destructive processes are very pronounced in children because their tooth enamel is still not strong enough.
5. Destructive influence on the Central nervous system of the baby. Taking the sweet with the associated hyperactive, and sometimes aggressive behavior of children. They become very excitable, irritable, hysterical, and often suffer from insomnia.
6. To deprive the body of a child of a significant part of calcium and b vitamins. Refined sugar not only provokes the leaching of available resources, but also interfere with normal digestion.
7. Lead to malfunctions the intestines of the baby, causing the formation of flatulence and intermittent chair of dysbiosis.

The use of sugar for a child

Of course, sucrose, and there are some positive aspects:

1. When used in children, aktiviziruyutsya many processes.
2. Has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the brain of the child.
3. Fast carbohydrates are immediately converted into energy, the children need for active movements.
4. Sweet dishes cheer up the child and bring him pleasure.
5. Sucrose has inhibitory effect against some harmful microorganisms, in connection with which it is used as a natural preservative.

Who, nutritionists and renowned pediatrician E. Komarovsky

In connection with the growth of diseases which are caused by excessive consumption of sugar, who began to take drastic measures to combat this problem.

Who’s first report, which listed activities to reduce the daily consumption of sugar by 10%, was introduced in 2003.

According to nutritionists, a fully healthy person should eat a day not more than 10 grams of sugar. Such provision is sufficient and is virtually harmless to an adult organism. For children, the daily rate of sucrose should be reduced three times.

Here is a famous pediatrician E. Komorowski will not carry sugar to the category of “absolute evil.” In his opinion, sucrose, and other carbohydrates plays a very important role in ensuring normal functioning of the child’s body. But he advises not to offer the sugar babies that are just starting to get acquainted with “adult” food. If the baby refuses the cereal or yogurt, you do not need to podslushat food white sugar: a great option would be to add to a dish of fruit puree or dried fruit.

The opinion of Dr. Komarovsky about the benefits and harm of sugar for a child you can hear by watching this video review:

When we start to introduce baby sugar? A quantitative measure

Doctors agree that it is not necessary to enter the sugar in the child’s diet until at least the year, as previously familiarity with this product increases the risk of health problems.

Babies enough milk sugar – lactose, which is almost 6 times inferior in sweetness to sucrose. And in artificial mixtures in addition to lactose is still present and maltose.

From six months old babies become available and other sources of energy:

• fructose, which is a part of the fruit;
• complex carbohydrates: cereals and vegetables. The advantage of complex carbohydrates is that they put in children’s bodies not only glucose, but also useful minerals.

Better to listen to the experts and try to postpone the acquaintance of your kid with sugar, as up to three years of age children do not need. Unfortunately, our time is very difficult, living in society, to fully control the food of the baby, but not to give sweets to a year – it is in the parents.

After a year, in principle, it is permissible to add sugar to baby food, but here the main thing not to overdo and not to exceed the established standards:

• up to 3 years daily rate is not more than 6 g of sugar;
• from 3 to 6 years – about 7 g.

As for sweets, the child’s diet from the age of three can attend:

1. Marshmallows.
2. Candy.
3. Marmalade.
4. Low-fat ice cream and cake (preferably home made).

Chocolate has a high percentage of fat, so it is better to offer your child no earlier than 5-6 years.

Natural and healthy sugar substitutes in the baby

As a rule, the question of the introduction of sugar begins to bother parents when their baby refuses to eat cereal or fresh dairy products.

In this situation, the aid will come natural and healthy sweeteners – fruit that can be present in a child menu in its raw, boiled, baked or dried.

In porridge, yogurt or cottage cheese can add fruit purees, chopped fresh fruit or seasonal berries, etc.

From dried fruits you can cook a compote, and after a year to offer their baby in dried form as sweets.

Attention! The sweet fruits is recommended to enter into the diet baby 8 months, and only after he will meet with all seasonal vegetables and try to “unsweetened” cereals.

Store-bought substitutes for white sugar. It is better to offer a child?

Most often in the children’s diet included sugar derived from sugar beets and refined through a particular technology to a snow white color. As already mentioned, white sugar is a source of sucrose.

In addition of refined sugar on the shelves and in pharmacies you can find products such as:

1. Grape sugar (glucose).
2. Brown sugar (cane).
3. Fructose.
4. Artificial sweeteners (sugar substitutes).

Grape sugar (glucose, dextrose) refers to simple carbohydrates and is characterized by rapid absorption and less harmful to children’s teeth. The substance is extracted from stone fruit, grapes, bananas, raspberries, strawberries. Glucose is produced in the medical industry in the form of tablets and solutions. In Pediatrics, most often it is prescribed according to age at elevated dosages of acetone in children. For regular add to baby food this type of sugar is not intended.

Brown sugar is extracted from sugar cane. He has a specific taste, color and distinctive aroma. Because brown sugar goes through a different purification degree (remains almost in its original form), it retains a set of useful minerals, namely:

It is the only advantage of brown sugar in front of the white. And the rest is the same high-calorie product (around 380 kcal per 100 g of sugar), and also because of the contained impurities may cause allergic reactions in children.

Fructose is extracted from fruit and berries, and has a number of advantages over white sugar:

1. Does not cause a sharp rise in blood glucose.
2. Its absorption does not need insulin so there is no load on the pancreas.
3. Fructose splits into:
   • glucose which is the body’s energy needs;
   • glycogen, which accumulates in the liver, and when there is a shortage of carbohydrates compensate for their deficit.
4. Has a rich sweet taste that exceeds the sweetness of white sugar two times.
5. When you eat a fruit sugar the risk of caries is reduced by 25%.

A calorie of fructose is 399 calories per 100 grams.

Fructose – it is a good alternative to white sugar, but it is moderate and occasional use.

Artificial sweeteners gaining increasingly more popularity, as superior to the white sweetness of sugar and have zero calories.

Typically, they are used by the manufacturers of such food products as:

• ice cream;
• confectionery;
• candy;
• drinks;
• gum;
• diet products.

For artificial sweeteners include: aspartame, Sucralose, saccharin, thaumatin, Acesulfame, cyclamate.

These substances do not contribute to the production of insulin, and also excreted in the same form in which get there. Therefore , artificial sweeteners are a good option when the disease diabetes, but for baby food they are unacceptable. The fact that the impact of artificial sweeteners on the body of the baby is still not well understood, while in some countries it was noted their negative impact, so they’re banned.

The sugar and allergic reactions in children

Many parents believe that sugar can be an allergen and cause a corresponding response in the body of a baby. However, experts reject this possibility, arguing that allergic reactions in the human body can provoke the whites, and sugar is a carbohydrate.

Sugar may contribute to allergies to any other product or to worsen existing allergic reactions. The fact that sugar is getting into the intestines, can provoke the processes of fermentation and putrefaction of food debris those who have not yet or poorly digested. The decomposition products enter the bloodstream, causing allergic reactions.

Factors contributing to allergic reactions with sugar:

1. A predisposition at the genetic level.
2. Excessive consumption of different kinds of sweets during the pregnancy.
3. Menu toddler sweet dishes are present on a regular basis.
4. Immune depressing factors from the external environment (poor environmental conditions, living in a hazardous environment, Smoking adults in the room, etc.).
5. Hormonal surges associated with sexual maturation.
6. Helminth infection and disorder of the bowel.

Allergic reactions are of two types:

1. Of local character. In this case, the baby can appear on the skin flaky and itchy patches of pinkish color, or may manifest dysfunction of the intestine, and sometimes there are respiratory symptoms. At an early age to occur in children ailments such as:
   • exudative diathesis;
   • atopic dermatitis;
   • eczema.
2. Of a General nature. This is the most dangerous allergic reactions. The baby can cause sudden swelling of the mucous, which manifests as shortness of breath. It should be understood that such a clinic can be a symptom of the development of angioedema. No less terrible picture is revealed in case of allergic bronchospasm or bronchial asthma attacks.

If the child had some kind of allergic reaction after a meal, should be to completely eliminate “suspect” product and immediately seek medical help, especially if we are talking about the allergic manifestations of a General nature, associated with shortness of breath.