The AHA, which published the statement online in Circulation on August 22, noted that 25 grams was equivalent to six teaspoons or approximately 100 calories.
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Medical researchers say a sugar-ridden diet is strongly associated with obesity, abnormal cholesterol, and fatty liver disease, which ultimately increases future cardiovascular risk.
The American Heart Association (AHA) has come up with new recommendations mainly focused on to control the amount of added sugar consumed by children. In the first eight months of 2016, the Food and Drug Administration announced that companies will soon have to disclose the amount of added sugar in foods, Philadelphia passed a soda tax, and other cities put similar measures on the November ballot.
The new recommendations say that children ages 2 to 18 should eat or drink less than six teaspoons of added sugars daily.
“Children should not drink more than one 8-ounce sugar-sweetened drink a week yet they are now drinking their age in sugary drink servings each and every week”, Vos said.
If the six-teaspoon recommendation becomes hard to follow, that’s because many processed foods in the supermarket are engineered to be high-sugar and low-fiber, said Dr. Robert Lustig, professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the new paper. The caloric needs of children this age are relatively small, and should consist entirely of foods with nutritional value. Each of these 12 Hershey’s Kisses contains approximately 2.5 grams of sugar.
The vast majority of children and teens should have less than six teaspoons of added sugar in their diet each day, according to the American Heart Association.
Officials say that too much added sugar can lead to obesity, hypertension and heart disease.
The statement also announced that children younger than 2 years should not consume foods or beverages with added sugars at all. It may include table sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey and molasses Added sugar can also be used as an ingredient in preparing foods or beverages. The AHA said the top contributors to sugar in children’s diets are soda, fruit and sports drinks, and cakes and cookies.
Because of the lack of research for or against artificial sweeteners the authors felt they could not make a recommendation for or against these no-calorie sweeteners.
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“When you are getting your consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy proteins, there really isn’t all this extra room for these added sugars”, she said.
