Canadian Kids Are Consuming 5 Times More Sugar Than They Should

The World Health Organization is calling on parents to reduce their children’s sugar consumption. The American Heart Association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Diabetes Canada and the Childhood Obesity Foundation, among others, have all joined this cause.

“The evidence is extremely clear that excess sugar is harmful to you,” says Dr. Tom Warshawski, chair of the Vancouver-based Childhood Obesity Foundation. “Bottom line, almost everyone is eating unhealthy levels of sugar.”

Data from the most recent Canadian Community Health Survey, say that kids consume 33 teaspoons of sugar a day, way above the World Health Organization’s recommendation that sugars ideally make up 5 percent but no more than 10 percent of a person’s daily calories.

The health consequences are concerning:

• an increased likelihood of everything from high blood pressure
• heart disease
• type-2 diabetes
• sleep apnea
• depression
• bone and joint problems.

According to Statistics Canada Obesity rates for kids in Canada between the ages of 2 and 17 have tripled in the last 30 years.

A single glass of apple juice contains the same amount of sugar as 4 or 5 apples do, without any of the fiber. Warshawski says and advises:

“Have an orange for breakfast, don’t drink orange juice,”

The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees and have recently altered their recommendation regarding juice intake for children.