New guidelines aim to help improve children’s overall diet, health
TUESDAY, Aug. 23, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Children and teens should consume no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugars a day, a new American Heart Association (AHA) statement advises. The statement, published online Aug. 22 in Circulation, is based on a review of available scientific research on how sugar affects children’s health.
Added sugars are any sugars, including table sugar, fructose, and honey, used in processing and preparing foods or beverages, added to foods at the table, or eaten separately.
“Our target recommendation is the same for all children between the ages of 2 and 18, to keep it simple for parents and public health advocates,” statement lead author Miriam Vos, M.D., of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said in an AHA news release. “For most children, eating no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugars per day is a healthy and achievable target.”
The statement also said children younger than 2 years should not consume foods or beverages with added sugars at all. In addition, children and teens aged 2 to 18 should consume no more than 8 ounces of sugar-sweetened drinks a week.
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