I clearly remember when my now 21-year-old stepson was a teenager and he would go through the food in our fridge and cabinets like he'd never seen food. It seemed like he would do this every day and I just couldn't keep up with the gallons of milk and loafs of bread that he would devour in what seemed like a matter of hours. I guess that in comparison to other teenagers this just made him a regular teen, except for one thing, he was never really into sweet processed foods or candy.
A new study has found the opposite is true for teen boys between the ages of 12 and 19 who came out as the biggest consumers of sugar when compared to both teen girls in the same age group as well as younger children of box sexes.
And although the report also found that this applied more to white children than to black or Mexican-American ones, it also found that children of all ages, sexes and races/ethnicities were consuming way too much sugar. Most parents, of course, already knew this–or so I like to think. What I don't think most parents knew, at least not me, is where them majority of this added sugar is coming from and where they're getting most of it.
Contrary to popular belief, most of the added sugar is not coming from soft drinks, but rather from foods. Researchers measured all added sugars, including those spooned at the table; like white and brown sugar, corn syrup, honey and molasses; as well as those used as ingredients in processed and prepared foods like bread, jam, candy and ice cream. Sugars in fruit or pure fruit juices were not included in this study.
But the biggest surprise–at least for me–is that whether from food or drink, teens are getting most of their sugar en casa! Yes, you read right: home! So while a lot of parents are quick to point at their children's schools for their children's sugar consumption, it looks like the time has come for us to look right at home.
How do you control your children's sugar consumption at your home?
Image via Call It Crazy/flickr
