Children and sugar consumption: more than double recommended

2023-06-15 08:35:37

Foods such as certain vegetable milks, dairy desserts or cookies are perceived as good and healthy. However, is it really so? An investigation concludes that the consumption of sugar in children continues to be very high

The sugar consumption of Spanish children is much higher than that recommended by the WHO. EFE/Fernando Alvarado

scientists from Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INYTA) of the University of Granada and of the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada have carried out a study whose objective is to estimate the intake of added sugars in children’s diets in Spain.

The research work, published in the journal Nutrients, has been led by Jesús Francisco Rodríguez Huertas, Professor of Physiology at the UGR. The professor of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the UGR, María Dolores Mesa-García, and the researcher of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology ‘José Mataix Verdú’ and of the Biomedical Research Center of the University of Granada, participated in it. Marta Palma Morales.

The research work has had a sample of 1,775 adults with children between the ages of 7 and 12.

The data collected has revealed that Spanish children consume more than double the sugar recommended by the WHO.

Infographic provided by the University of Granada

These are some of the most notable results of the study:

• Most added sugars come from foods with low nutritional density: 65% of the sugars consumed by children come from foods with low nutritional density, such as sauces, candies or industrial pastries. Only 35% comes from products with a certain nutritional quality, such as dairy desserts, vegetable drinks or sweetened yoghurts.

• Distorted vision of food: Foods such as cookies or homemade sweets are perceived by most parents as good food. However, these provide more than 15 grams of sugar per serving, a figure well above the recommended average.

• Best and worst products: Milk is one of the most consumed foods in Spanish homes and has great nutritional value. We find frequently consumed products such as cocoa powder that have a much lower nutritional density. Of all the foods analyzed, the one with the highest nutritional density is enriched infant milk. This provides a low amount of sugars and almost twice as many nutrients as basic milk.

• Similarity with previous results: The great similarity of the results obtained with previous ones is worrisome. The studies ESNUPI y ANIBES contain similar numbers. These also show the high consumption of sugars in childhood and warn of the high intake of products such as yogurt, industrial pastries and soft drinks.

Cocoa powder consumption is high. EFE/Fernando Bizerra Jr.

Nutritional quality index

Researchers have created an index to assess the nutritional quality of food, which reflects the nutrient density present in each serving of a food. (NDIS). A daily nutrient intake index has also been created (DAYS)based on the daily amount consumed of each food.

In order to classify foods according to their NDIS, the authors considered milk as the reference food, with an NDIS of 3. Foods with an NDIS greater than 2.5 have a high nutritional value, while if it is less than 1, 5 have very little nutritional density.

(From left to right, the researcher María Dolores Mesa-García; the professor of Physiology and director of the study Jesús R. Huertas; and the researcher Marta Palma-Morales/ Image courtesy of the University of Granada

Proposals to reduce the consumption of added sugars

One of the central conclusions of the study is the importance of evaluating the nutritional value of a food by more parameters than its sugar content. The other nutrients that the product contributes to the diet are also important.

“The population must be made aware to reduce the consumption of all products that contain added sugars, primarily those with low nutritional quality. In the context of a healthy and nutritionally adequate diet, occasional consumption (1-2 servings/week) of products with low nutritional quality could be maintained, as long as the added sugar content is low or moderate,” says Jesús Francisco Rodríguez Huertas. , studio manager.

Among the solutions proposed by the experts are nutritional education campaigns for parents and children. Also reduce the consumption of products with a high sugar content and try to reformulate the products.