It's so sweet, that it hurts

Alia Almoayed has joined the GulfWeekly team as our health columnist. She is a nutritional therapist running a busy nutrition consultancy in Bahrain, offering nutrition advice to the whole Middle East community. She writes health articles for various publications, holds lectures and seminars on health and nutrition, and heads a number of weight loss projects. Alia is the author of I Want Healthy Kids, a book on how to raise healthy kids, and The Dream Body Eating Plan, a weight loss guide; she is also co-author of 101 Ways To Improve Your Health. For more information or to request Alia's special FREE Report entitled: 5 Secrets Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Your Health visit www.AliaAlmoayed.com You can also stay tuned with Alia on her blog at www.AliaAlmoayedBlog.com

HOW much sugar is too much? My five-year-old son came home from school one day saying that his teacher asked him if we had any chocolate at home. And, he said, no.

Like many people, his teacher wanted to know if the nutritionist's son ever gets to eat sweets.

She wanted to know if he has a 'normal' childhood full of sweets and candy and ice cream. Most probably, she felt sorry for him for not having chocolates at home.

Sugar and kids seem to go hand-in-hand. Wherever there are kids, there are sugar and sweets.

The two have become inseparable. And, as a result, many health conditions have also become inseparable from kids.

When I was a child in primary school, we had only one or two children in class who were overweight or wore glasses.

But I walk into classrooms today and I see something very different. Our sugar addictions and obsessions have made sugar-related conditions part of daily life; acne, vision problems, hyperactivity, low attention spans, insomnia, obesity, lack of interest in sports, teeth problems, and much more.

Children go about their day shifting between sugary meals at home and sugary snacks at school.

For example, a typical child may start his day with sugary cereal and juice, then have a muffin or chocolate at school, then a fizzy drink with lunch, followed by dessert, a chocolate bar or biscuits in the afternoon, and maybe a sugary yoghurt with dinner.

Add to that, the bigger amounts of sugar that might be ingested during a birthday party or weekends. Their meals and snacks act like a sugar drip into their systems and their bodies get affected accordingly.

Some people say, 'poor child, let him eat sweets and chocolates. Let him enjoy his childhood'. The way I see it, the 'poor' child is the one eating all that sugar! There are many other ways your child can enjoy his childhood.

Many parents and teachers will attest to the effects of sugar on their kids. The intake of processed sugar can affect vision, behaviour, skin, hormones, weight, and even immunity.

For example, kids who have sugar at recess are much harder to teach. And, if you get your child to write something before and after having sugar, you'll see the difference; the precision and attention to detail will be affected, more so if the sugar intake is continuous.

Also, many children fall sick after a birthday party where they have indulged on sugar.

In fact, sugar lowers immunity for up to 15 hours, making the child more prone to catching any illness.

If you control how much sugar your child is having, you would NOT be depriving him of his childhood, you would be giving him a better chance of living his life to its full potential.

I always say that an adult has a mature brain to make decisions about what he or she eats, how much and when.

But a child does not. A child will eat what he's offered and will ask for what he is used to eating.

His brain and his judgment don't allow him to make sound choices.

We as adults have to help our kids make better choices. And, what are we doing instead?

We are tantalising them with coloured products and sugary snacks. We are filling them with ice creams, candy and chocolates because we 'love them'. How is that love?

But how much is too much?

As a parent, I know that it's not easy or realistic to stop kids from eating chocolates, sugar and sweets. The trick is, knowing what to offer and when to say, no.

Just like you teach your kids manners and press them to do well in school, you should also make sure they know how to respect their body and help it function at its best.

Many adults I know have a hard time putting a limit to how much dessert they have mainly because they never learned how to do it!

When you teach your children what to do around sugar, you are teaching them a life skill that will help them for the rest of their lives.

Five crucial sugar tips

l Make sugar a treat that is given once a week or only on weekends. Believe it or not, kids usually adjust to that very quickly; it's the parents I have a harder time convincing.

l Make sure to choose good-quality treats such as organic dark chocolate instead of coloured candy.

l If your child already has a sugar addiction, remember that eating habits are learned, so you'll also be able to help him unlearn his habits, learn new ones and develop new taste preferences; so don't give up.

l Make healthy desserts at home and involve your children. Use natural sweeteners such as fruits, dates, raisins, etc.

l Whenever you set a rule, always explain why you're doing it. Your child will understand what you're trying to do because they also want to feel better.

In my recent book I Want Healthy Kids, I dedicate a whole chapter to sugar and many other important nutrition topics that you can look into.

There, you can find a lot of healthy alternatives and even some yummy recipes.

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