Do you know what’s hidden in your child’s milk?

Milk provides a world of goodness for our children. It’s packed with dairy goodness and is loaded with vitamins and minerals. There’s calcium for growing bones, protein and carbohydrates for developing bodies, and so much more. But did you know about the added sugars hiding in your child’s milk?

Many parents limit their children’s consumption of sugar, excessive sugar intake has been linked to obesity and other unhealthy lifestyle illnesses. So the thought of added sugars in our children’s milk can be quite alarming. However, there is good reason to be concerned.

According to the latest statistics from the National Health and Morbidity Survey, more than 6% of children in Malaysia under five years of age have been identified as overweight. While almost 12% of children and teenagers aged below 18 were either overweight or obese.

While many parents may think chubby children are cute, obesity later in life can lead to a host of health problems. It is linked with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, gall bladder disease and more.

Children do not need excessive added sugars. So why should there be added sugars in your child’s formulated milk powder which he consumes frequently?

What Are Added Sugars?

Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to food and beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those found in milk and fruits.

How Much Sugar Is Too Much?

Malaysian pre-schoolers consumes an average of 7.6 teaspoons of sugar daily. This is far beyond daily recommendation.

Malaysian Dietary Guidelines (MDG) for Children and Adolescents 2013 recommends that children aged two to six should have no more than three teaspoons of added sugars per day.

With an already high consumption of sugar among our children, imagine what will happen when they drink milk with added sugars!

Why Is Excessive Added Sugars Bad?

A little sugar can help improve the taste of our food. After all, who doesn’t love a little sweetness? But too much sugar can have a negative impact on our health – and the health of our children.

Sugar has been known to:

• Increase the likelihood of obesity
• Have a negative impact on taste preference – developing a “sweet tooth”
• Increase the risk of dental cavities

Where Are the Added Sugars Hiding?

You may not know it, but added sugars are in many of the food products we consume. Added sugars are commonplace, and they can have many tricky names. Brown sugar, white sugar, and glucose are obvious. But what about maltodextrin? Or glucose syrup solid? Or sucrose?  These are added sugars too.

Here’s a list of common names for added sugars:

• Maltodextrin
• Glucose Syrup Solid
• Sucrose
• Brown Sugar
• Corn Syrup Solid
• Dextrose
• Glucose
• Fructose
• Maltose