Added sugars and excessive sugar intake in child's milk.

June 28, 2011

to Read (

Words)

48 hours advertorial post (please scroll down for latest updates)

Ok, I believe this "Added Sugar" thingy has caused so much confusion among parents and numerous questions have been raised on the topic itself. Let alone on all the various info sources available on the internet. Which one is ok, which one is not? Reliable ker tak and all. -___- Some parents were cool enough to digest the fact and rationalize info while many others were shocked with disbelief.

As for me, I don't see that this added sugar thingy as something that is so serious that I need to worry myself day and night. Gula is everywhere I tell you and the fact that we are living in Malaysia, it's hard for us to get rid of sugars.

What we should understand in the first place is SUGARS are SUGARS despite of all the different names being used; natural sugars, added sugars, corn syrup solids, sucrose, glucose and etc, all meant to provide extra calories and they just ended up the same in a child's body.

But what makes a difference here is the INTAKE. Amount of intake. Everyone knows that kids need sugars as it helps to provide sufficient amount of energy for their daily activities. But when the intake becomes excessive, then the whole goodness turns bad as it can increase the risk of health problems for children, be it now or later in future.

So here comes the interesting fact that I want to share with my readers.

‘Carbohydrates’ in milk powder consist of only sugars

Under Malaysian food labeling regulations, the ‘carbohydrate per serve’ number in the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) on your child’s growing up milk powder is only made up of two things:

• Sugar that is naturally present in the milk powder. The only naturally present sugar in milk is lactose. The natural lactose level in a glass of standard milk is approximately 11g-12g per serve.

• Sugars that are added to the milk powder. Anything higher than 11g-12g for ‘carbohydrate per serve’ in growing up milk powder is equal to added sugars. Handbook of dairy foods and nutrition. 2nd Ed. National Dairy Council. 2000. Composition of New Zealand Foods. Dairy Products. 1991.

So, before everyone start going bonkers over this "banyaknya-gula-dalam-susu-anak-aku" *a scary true fact tho*, why not you head to any of the hypermarkets in your neighborhood and make a simple check on children’s growing up milks? Make your own observation by checking on the number of "carbohydrate per serve" and remember, anything higher than 11g-12g is added sugars.

Or, why not u taste your child's growing up milk? Hah, then make your own justification. :) Still so much confusion? Talk to your kids' pediatrician. Well at least to get a professional advice on this hot issue and not to leave you, mommy and daddy with so much of question marks. :P

My verdict?

Regardless of all this added sugar issues being raised on, milk is still important nonetheless. It provides the essential nutrients to meet the kid’s growing needs BUT remember, children do not need excessive sugar from milk. So yeah, that’s the key point here. Not an excessive one.

Well, I know, switching milk is not something easy as swapping between chocolate and ice cream right? Taste is always the main barrier. So, just in case if you are thinking on switching to no added sugar formulation, why not you do it gradually so the transition will not be an adhoc phase (that your kid might reject it entirely). Or maybe you can feed the kid while they are hungry and very likely they will not reject it. Or distract them with story telling while feeding them with new formulation? Just make the transition step by step in order to help kid to acquire the taste.

But personally to me, SUSU is not the only thing that my son drinks everyday. There are many other factors that should be taken into consideration too like his main meals and snacks. So that’s why I took the tv advert findings moderately.

And in my case, Adam Haris himself is so cikeding and a very picky eater and nasi is not part of his staple foods. So if get myself so worried about his susu, I'm worried if he might not be getting enough carbo at all. And he'll be even more cikeding than now. But yeah, I am super strict on his snacks and it is safe to say that Adam doesn't know how good chocolate and ice cream taste like. Hihihihi...T__T

Remember, the kids still need sugar but what’s most important is the intake especially when you take into consideration on the kids daily meal plan. :)