Carbohydrates And Sugar In Children’s Diet
Managing carbohydrates and sugar in children’s diets can determine wholesomeness is. It is optimal to include the amounts necessary to guarantee a state of energy, but an excess could be counterproductive in the medium term.
When we talk about carbohydrates it is always necessary to emphasize the need for these to be complex. The impact on blood glucose is much lower, which causes the pancreas to suffer less demand for work, thus favoring its function.
Carbohydrate Needs in Children’s Diet
Experts agree that carbohydrates are necessary in children’s diets. During childhood, activity levels are high and these nutrients should not be restricted, since it could negatively impact growth.
Now, in a way, you have to avoid the intake of added sugar. This ingredient is capable of increasing the risk of developing obesity and type 2 diabetes. It is especially dangerous when administered through drinks and soft drinks, according to a study published in the journal Current Diabetes Reports .
Both fructose and glucose administered in large quantities could impair liver function in the medium term. It must be borne in mind that children’s organs are developing, so an over-demand of them could generate a negative result.
How to include carbohydrates and sugar in the diet of children?
To optimally introduce carbohydrates and sugar into children’s diets, it is important to ensure the consumption of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and tubers. Although many foods of plant origin have fructose, the presence of fiber in these foods modulates the rate of absorption of it. Therefore, it is not considered harmful in this context.
Likewise, the fiber also found in legumes, cereals and tubers will help prevent episodes of constipation. This is evidenced by an investigation published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics , in which fiber consumption is associated with better intestinal transit.
Now, as for legumes, it is optimal to guarantee a slow and extensive cooking over time. This is the only way to get a good digestion of them. Otherwise, they could increase the formation of gas at the intestinal level, which can cause abdominal discomfort in the child.
What foods with carbohydrates and sugar to restrict?
As a general rule, in the child’s diet, industrial ultra-processed products and soft drinks should be avoided. Both precooked and edible pastries have large amounts of added sugar, which is harmful to the body. Even doing physical activity later, it will always be better to eat fresh food.
Gummies and soda are also especially harmful. They do not contain beneficial nutrients and concentrate simple carbohydrates and other additives that could interfere with the function of many organs in the human body. Its regular intake increases the risk of developing metabolic pathologies, altering body composition.
It is essential to raise awareness about the impact that the inclusion of these products in the children’s diet has had on the incidence of obesity in recent years. To reverse this trend it is necessary to bet on a quality diet based on fresh foods and complex carbohydrates, leaving fast food aside.
It is also essential to promote physical activity from the earliest stages of life. Only in this way will it be possible to stimulate the efficiency of the metabolism of sugars at the liver level, as well as a correct control of blood glucose. If both parameters get out of control, health is depleted.
Proposing a healthy diet is decisive
As we have commented, it is possible to include carbohydrates in the diet of children, but always ensuring that they are complex. When it comes to consuming sugar, it is recommended to limit the intake of ultra-processed foods and to plan a varied and regular supply of vegetables.
The fructose in these foods will not be harmful due to the presence of fiber. In addition, these foods have antioxidants and phytonutrients capable of modulating the processes of inflammation and oxidation, which in the medium term translates into a better state of health.
