07 Apr Uncovered: Shocking Sugar Content of Kid’s Treats!
Uncovered: Sugar In Kid’s Food
by Willow Tree Dental Centre on Dental Health and Children’s Dentistry
Does anyone else spend the holidays watching their kids eat their body weight in chocolate and sweet treats and come away thinking – wow we need some healthy snacks!
Navigating sugars in your children’s diet is just another thing on the list of things parents have to worry about! As a practice of partners who are all mums, we totally understand the struggle with balancing health, nutrition, treats and dental health. So, we decided to uncover what sugar there really is our favoured kids’ food and drinks – with the hope of making snack choices that bit easier – we were a little shocked, to be honest.
RDA
The first thing we noticed is that the RDA ( recommended daily allowance) percentage labelled on the packets was often that of an adult. On a food specifically targeted to children? Which isn’t exactly helpful! So watch out and check out the RDA %!
Check the RDA % - it's usually based on an adult's recommended daily allowance!
| Product | Sugar | % RDA 19g 4-6 | 24g Age 7-10 | 30g 11+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snacks & Sweets | ||||
| Bear Yoyos 1 roll | 4 | 21 | 17 | 13 |
| Blueberry Mini Muffin 1 muffin | 9 | 49 | 39 | 31 |
| Soreen Lunch Loaf 1 loaf | 5 | 27 | 21 | 17 |
| Kellogs Fruit Winders 1 roll | 6 | 33 | 26 | 21 |
| Sunny Raisins 42.5g | 30 | 155 | 123 | 98 |
| Freddo 18g | 10 | 53 | 42 | 33 |
| Milky Way Fun Size 21.5g | 13 | 70 | 55 | 44 |
| Magic Stars 33g | 17 | 89 | 71 | 57 |
| Milky Bar Buttons 30g | 18 | 94 | 74 | 59 |
| Dairy Milk Buttons 30g | 17 | 88 | 70 | 56 |
| Dried banana chips 125g (unsweetened) | 19 | 100 | 79 | 63 |
| Rowntree’s Randoms 1 serving (6 sweets) | 14 | 72 | 57 | 46 |
| Haribo Starmix 1 serving (7 sweets) | 12 | 62 | 49 | 39 |
| Ella’s Kitchen Squished Smoothie Fruits 1 carton (90g) | 14 | 72 | 57 | 45 |
| Cereals | ||||
| Jordans Chunky Nuts 30g | 7 | 35 | 28 | 22 |
| Curiously Cinnamon 30g | 7 | 38 | 30 | 24 |
| Honey Monster Puffs 30g | 9 | 47 | 38 | 30 |
| Golden Nuggets 30g | 8 | 41 | 33 | 26 |
| Shreddies 30g | 4 | 21 | 16 | 13 |
| Coco Pops 30g | 5 | 26 | 21 | 17 |
| Cheerios 30g | 5 | 28 | 22 | 18 |
| Drinks | ||||
| innocent Kids Apple Juice 1 carton (180ml) | 16 | 84 | 67 | 53 |
| Tropicana Orange Juice (150ml) | 13 | 68 | 54 | 43 |
| innocent Kids smoothie Strawberry, Apple & Beetroot 1 carton (180ml) | 16 | 84 | 67 | 53 |
| The Collective Kids Yoghurt Suckies 1 carton (Strawberry 100g) | 8 | 39 | 31 | 25 |
| Capri Sun Orange (200ml) | 10 | 52 | 41 | 33 |
We’ve known for a while that the single biggest cause for children being admitted to hospital is to have rotten teeth removed. It’s a major cause of health inequality.
Snacking
As parents, we want the best for our kids and this information isn’t here to ‘scare-monger’. It is our intention to give you the knowledge you need to protect your kids’ teeth and to teach them eating habits that will stay with them for a lifetime. We recommend no more than 1 or 2 free ‘sweet hits’ a day. Plaque begins to build up on teeth only 20 minutes after we begin eating and if it is not removed effectively, tooth decay starts. The risk of tooth decay is higher with high sugar foods. We advise your treats are served at mealtimes, this will decrease the number of times your kids’ teeth have to battle tooth decay.
Oral hygiene habits
- See your dentist regularly
- Visit the hygienist
- Brush 2x daily for 2mins
- Eat sugary foods at mealtimes
- Have yoghurt with fruit
- Stay hydrated
Low-Sugar Snacks
- Babybell
- Cheese string
- Dairylea triangles
- Pitta bread
- Hummus
- Cucumber
- Natural nut-butters
- Watermelon
- Popcorn (not the kind covered in sugar & toffee)
- Avocado
- Broccoli
For 50 great low-sugar snack ideas head to Super Healthy Kids.
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