Fitfood: Ease out sugar from kids' diets

Rocky Mountain News

Published October 31, 2006 at midnight

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Question: My kids seem to whine for sugary food all the time. What can I do to help them break the sugar habit?

Answer: There are steps you can take to help your children kick the sugar habit. Prudence Athearn Levy, a registered dietitian with Cherry Creek Nutrition, says it can start by turning off the soda pop spigot. A regular 12-ounce soda has about 40 grams of sugar, which equals 10 teaspoons of sugar.

"The USDA estimates kids ages 12 to 19 drink about a half-quart of soda each day," she says. "Unfortunately, it is replacing healthier drinks like water and low-fat milk."

Levy suggests aiming for limiting sugar calories to less than 10 percent of your kids' daily intake.

"High sugar consumption is not only linked with obesity in children, but it is also linked with dental problems, diabetes, and heart disease," she says. "The younger you start offering healthy snacks, the easier it will be to help them stay away from sugar."

Here are some ideas:

• Limit sweets, especially packaged cookies and candy, in your house. Kids will eat snacks that are most visible and available, especially if they are hungry.

• When baking, cut the sugar by ¼. Most recipes will come out just fine.

• Replace sugary foods by stocking the fridge and cabinets with fresh fruit (easy to peel clementines are almost in season and delicious), unsalted nuts, yogurt, dried fruits, baked tortilla chips, pretzels, whole-grain crackers, low-fat milk and low-fat microwave popcorn. Don't keep soda pop in the house. Instead give them options of 100 percent juice, low-fat milk or water.

• Protein takes longer for the body to digest, so foods high in protein will likely get your kids from snack to dinner. Offer two-food group snack options, with one of those groups being protein or dairy, the other a high fiber food like a fruit or a grain. Keep protein foods like low-fat lunch meats (turkey, lean ham), nuts, edamame, low-fat cheese or cottage cheese, peanut or almond butter (all-natural only), and snack-sized tuna on hand for kids when they get home.

• When your kids are really stuck on sweets, offering low-fat, naturally sweet foods can get them to eat healthier foods, but still satisfy the craving. Options include fresh or frozen berries, low-fat granola, and yogurt, dried fruit and nuts, whole- grain toast with peanut butter and banana slices, oatmeal with raisins, all-natural graham crackers with low-fat milk, fruit added to salads, and pineapple added to a healthy pizza or a stir-fry.

• Have vegetables available. Buy pre-cut carrots or celery for them to munch. Offer salads with meals. Make stir-frys. Add extra veggies to pizza. Vegetables are full of fiber, vitamins and minerals.

• Get kids involved. Research shows kids are more likely to eat foods that they have helped purchase or prepare. Set up a burrito bar where they choose which toppings should be options. Offer lettuce or spinach, tomatoes, peppers, beans, salsa, avocado/guacamole and low-fat sour cream or cheese.

• If your kids are school-age, challenge them to find healthy choices in the grocery store (such as products with low sugar grams per serving). They will learn to read labels and recognize which foods are healthier.

Here's a quick recipe the kids will love making and eating, too:

Mango Salsa

Serves 2 to 4

2 ripe mangoes

1/2 cucumber, diced

1/4 cup lime juice

1/3 teaspoon salt

Optional:

1 tablespoon fresh jalapeño pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

• Scoop it up with baked tortilla chips, whole-grain crackers or fresh veggies.

Nutritional information per serving: 77 cal., 0 g fat (0 g sat.), 0 mg chol., 20 g carb., 195 mg sodium, 2 g fiber, 1 g pro.