It is important to check how much sugar your children are drinking rather than how much they are eating.

It has been confirmed that children and teens are consuming sugar in form of sweetened drinks. Many of the children in the U.S have one sugary beverage per day as per CDC reports such as soda, sports drinks, coffee drinks. It is reported that boys drink slightly more like 20% as compared to girls i.e; 18%.

Added sugar leads to health issues like weight gain, high blood sugar, heart disease, and cavities. You can keep your children away from it on daily basis. As per American heart Association children and teens should only consume 8 ounces per week, less than 12 ounces of a soda can.

The overall limit of consuming sugar per day is less than 6 tsp in young people (approx 100 calories). So, almost 39gms of sugar has found in just 12 ounces of soda. Also, the sugar is hidden in some innocent-looking foods like yogurt, pasta sauce, and salad dressing, which becomes easier for children and teens to cross the limit with just one meal, excluding treats. For more pure water you can use some water coolers at your home. With avoiding having sodas and other sweet drinks, expert doctors recommend that children should also exclude processed foods and baked goods such as cakes, cookies, and sweet cereals from their meals.

Unknown sources of Hidden sugar:

• Pasta Sauces: They do not taste sweet, rather savory, but there are some types which contain 6 to 12 gm of sugar, the same amount you get from chocolate chip cookie. As per The American Heart Association, women should not consume more than 100 calories of sugar per day and men should not consume more than 150 calories. You must check for the label which states the sugar content in the favorite marinara or Alfredo sauces which can help you out.
• Granola Bars: Actually, they are healthy food, but some manufacturers add sweeteners such as corn syrup, brown sugar, brown sugar syrup, dextrose, and fructose. Some of the types come with a coating of yogurt and chocolate, chocolate chips, which contains a higher amount of sugar approx. 8 to 12 grams. You can have 1 ounce of granola, instead of having a granola bar and sugar will become just 5 grams.
• Yogurt: Yogurt contains a bigger amount of calcium and protein. But yogurt with a low fat flavored also contains almost 17 to 33 grams of sugar per 8 ounces, similar to almost 2 scoops of ice cream. You must choose the one with lower sugar, or you can purchase plain and use it in your favorite fruits.
• Instant Oatmeal: It is known as the medium of healthy fiber. But many of them contain 10 to 15 grams of sugar in every packet. Varieties like “reduced sugar” can contain 5 to 6 grams of sugar in each packet. You can add apple slices to you instant plain oatmeal, as it contains less than 1 grams of sugar in every packet.
• Salad Dressing: The sweet types of dressings like French, Catalina, and raspberry vinaigrette contains a large amount of sugar, approx. 5 to 7 grams in 2 tsp of dressing. So keep a watch on the quantity of pouring. Dressing with oil or light homemade vinegar is a better lower-sugar option, as it contains just 1 gram of sugar.
• Breakfast Cereals: All are aware of the thing, that fruity kids’ cereals are having a higher amount of sugar, but some with healthier names contain the higher amount of sugar, like oat, corn, bran cereals contain 10 to 20 grams per cup. You must not read on the container, rather read out ingredient label and nutrition facts to know the truth.
• Energy Drinks: Some drinks contain a lot amount of sugar with caffeine. Some types of energy drinks have 25 ounces of sugar per 8 ounces. You can opt for chilled water instead, as you may feel tired if dehydrated.
• Packaged Fruits: 39 grams of sugar contains in 1 cup of Mandarin oranges. You can avoid the little amount of sugar by draining the cup which makes the sugar level at 15.5 grams. But you can have a fresh fruit instead.
• Coleslaw: It is said to the “healthy’ side dish in many restaurants, is it really, you must think before as regular size side of coleslaw contains almost 15 grams of sugar. You will get to know what and what not goes in your restaurant food by checking their websites. If you want to have one, you can surely make it at home with the lesser amount of sugar.
• Tea: It is always thought that juices have added sugar and calories, so you prefer to choose tea over them. The most famous brands of lemon-flavored iced tea have about 32 grams of sugar in every bottle. Apple juice cup has 24 grams. You can make your own tea and control the amount of sugar. Or you can go for flavored water only after checking the labels always.
• Dried Fruit: They contain more amount of sugar than a normal fresh fruit. Box of raisins contains more than 25 grams of sugar. Instead, you can have a cup of grapes with just 15 grams of sugar.
• Ketchup: You can get a minor sugar boost of about 4 grams by consuming ketchup on your burger. It is not that big amount as compared to other foods, but if you wish to lower down the rate of sugar per day, always opt using yellow mustard, and you will only consume 1 gram of sugar per tablespoon.