Parents, vital advice to minimise sugar treats this summer
Parties and playdates with sugar-filled snacks are a regular occurrence during the summer months.
With beach days and warmer weather finally back on the horizon, it’s easy to get swept up in the feel-good factor of it all.
We all welcome the long, brighter evenings that have come as a result, it feels like summer is just around the corner! However, it’s also important to start preparing now for the many dangers that can face children during this time of year — not all of which can be solved with layers of Factor 50.
Ice creams and fizzy drinks are a common way for many of us to treat ourselves and cool off during the summer months, and are especially enticing for children.
The sunny weather can also bring about an influx of family BBQs, as well as children’s parties and playdates, as the nation scrambles to make the most of the brief window the Irish have to celebrate without fear of torrential rain putting a dampener on things.
However, the high volume of cake, sweets, chocolates and sugary drinks that are usually a staple of these summer get-togethers can be the biggest dampener of all, warns Sinead Powell, Senior Dietitian and Regional Development Officer with Diabetes Ireland.
She says the next few weeks will present a prime opportunity for parents to help educate their children on how to be ‘sugar smart’ ahead of the summer holidays.
“After Easter, many families may now be having a post-Lent binge,” explains Sinead. “This is very common, where parents and children alike will often gorge on all the goodies (such as sweets and chocolates) that they gave up for Lent in the lead-up to Easter Sunday.
“Ask most children what they associate with Easter, and I’ll bet the answer will be Easter Eggs, and more specifically chocolate eggs! While there is nothing wrong with a treat every now and then, many children have received several Easter eggs, which add up to a significant amount of chocolate, and ultimately that means lots of extra calories from both fat and sugar.”
Sinead urges all parents to take heed of the World Health Organisation’s guidelines on sugar intake for adults and children, which recommend that no more than 10% of our energy intake should come from ‘free sugars’. These are simple sugars that are added to foods by either the manufacturer or the consumer. They are also naturally present in honey, syrups and fruit juices.
“Become familiar with the different names used for sugar on labels,” Sinead advises. “These are glucose, sucrose, maltose, corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, hydrolysed starch and fructose. And remember, the higher up the ingredients list any of these sugars are, then the more contained in the product!"
With many homes now having an excess of Easter eggs sitting around, Sinead offers parents some very timely advice.
“While the majority of Easter eggs look fairly innocent, portion sizes are often large and there are often additional bars or bags of small filled eggs alongside the main hollow chocolate egg. While many of the outer packages remind us to be ‘treatwise’ and recommend that we eat only small serving sizes, a lot of us don’t take enough notice of that advice. I think a lot of parents who look at the nutritional information on their kids’ Easter Egg boxes would be quite shocked by just how much sugar is in even the smallest of treats.”
- Limit the amount of chocolate and treats coming into the house
- Agree on and stick to how many treats a child can have in a day
- At parties, be mindful of how many treats your child is likely to receive — what about a small toy instead
- Instead of sweet treats, consider fun-themed novelties — e.g. like during Easter, rabbit ears, tiny decorative chicks, colourful bunting and lots more are available in local discount shops and don’t need to cost any more than an Easter egg
“Ultimately, there are lots of fun ways to be sugar smart,” says Sinead. “Nobody wants to deprive their child either or take all the fun out of the occasion, but the notion of ‘everything in moderation’ really can be pivotal in finding the right balance.”
To find out more about how your family can be sugar smart, head to www.diabetes.ie.
