Need help getting your kids to eat nutritious foods? A little sugar may help.
In a new report released last week, America’s leading group of pediatricians urged the promotion of nutrient dense foods for children and recognized that small amounts of sugar can be a useful tool to encourage children to eat foods with high nutritional value.
"A small amount of sugar or fat is ok if it means a child is more likely to eat foods that are highly nutritious," said one of the lead authors of the report in a news release from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The policy statement, "Snacks, Sweetened Beverages, Added Sugars, and Schools," was published in the March 2015 issue of Pediatrics.
According to the statement, the sugars in nutrient dense foods, such as dairy foods, milks and presweetened cereals may positively impact overall diet quality.
The combination of cereal and milk combines two of these nutrient dense foods and this combo has been shown to be a leading source of 10 key nutrients in children’s diets.[1] Furthermore, ready-to-eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, contribute less than 4% of the total added sugar in the US diet.[2]
This is not the first time a health organization has recognized the importance of small amounts of sugar in the diet for encouraging nutrient intake. The American Heart Association, while taking a strong position against added sugars, acknowledged that sugars in nutrient dense foods may positively impact the diet.[3]
[1] Berner, et al. Fortified Foods are major contributors to nutrient intakes in diets of US children and adolescents. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. 2014; 114(7):1009-1022.
[2] U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 2010
[3] Johnson RK, Appel LJ, Brands M, et al; American Heart Association Nutrition Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism and the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. Dietary sugars intake and cardiovascular health: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2009;120(11):1011–1020.
