“A Little Sugar Won’t Hurt” #toddlers

Sugar consumption in the first 1,000 days of life—from conception to a child’s second birthday—can significantly impact long-term health, increasing the risk of conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. This early period is critical for development, as the body is highly sensitive to dietary influences. Excess sugar during this time can disrupt metabolic programming, affecting how the body processes glucose and regulates blood pressure. High sugar intake in infancy has been linked to insulin resistance, which can set the stage for Type 2 diabetes later in life, as well as changes in blood vessel function that contribute to elevated blood pressure.

Moreover, early exposure to sugary foods can shape taste preferences, potentially leading to lifelong habits of consuming high-sugar diets, which further raises the risk for metabolic disorders. By limiting added sugars during this foundational period, caregivers can help support healthier metabolic development and reduce the likelihood of chronic health issues as the child grows.

Source: PMID 39480913

#development #infant #parenting

[deoyx]

First 1000 days of life equals almost to 3 years old for anyone who doesn't want to do math. It's recommended not giving anything with added sugar when they're under the age of 3. Most fruits, vegetables and milk have sugar, so avoiding added sugar will help you avoid giving too much sugar by accident.

[Eysh]

Dietitians always try to explain to parents that they should not give sugar to their kids, but sometimes they be like “oh that poor thing, they will get cravings :(“. Believe me, they will NOT CRAVE WHAT THEY DON’T KNOW. Protect your children’s health

[kaylabrownell]

My Dad thought it was fine to give me Pepsi in my baby bottle, was Mom MAD!

[lovetobe]

I used to be a sugar addict. It was hard to give up, but it has made such a difference in my overall health long term.

[otterbeans]

Feed your child whole fruits (not juice) on a regular basis to meet that craving, and make them lower sugar, less processed sweets in your own kitchen for occasional consumption as treats. Pure processed sugar like peeps is honestly like heroin for babies, it's a high thye're gonna keep chasing if you aren't careful.

[rachelfox]

My grandmother was born in 1938 and didn’t have sugar until after rationing ended in 1952, when she was 14 years old. Not only does she find sweet things to be too much (she cannot even have milk chocolate unless it has hazelnuts in it, because otherwise it's too sweet), her teeth are still excellent in her 80s.

[melissawalsh]

Business Insider recently released a longer video on the bad food marketed to infants and toddlers that also cover this. It's worth watching if you have or plan to have kids (or you just find that kind of thing interesting).

[ajd]

My mom wouldn't let my brother and I have any sweets until we were about a year old - and then it was stuff like raisins. People would accuse her of being cruel because she would insist they not give us any sweets. I'm definitely sending this to her - vindication at last!

[kimberly]

I'm so glad you gave this light. It's real.

[yanyuet]

Sending this to all the grandparents, they are dying to feed cake to baby during special occasions

[Maggot]

I eat a low inflammatory diet high in fat and protein. My kids just eat what I do. My nephew was raised on sugary baby pablum and high carb snakes all day, cereals, juices, candies, etc. It's impossible to get him to eat meats and whole foods. He screams for sugar. He's also much smaller than my daughter, who is 6 months younger. His physical abilities are not as developed and he has no energy to run and play for ever long.

[suet.r.]

My mother would tell the story of how my dad gave me ice cream off the end of a teaspoon handle when I was just 2 weeks old. It was apparently very, very cute as it seemed I loved it. But then she would go on to tell how I (and she, as my mother) suffered the tummy ache all night and day for days afterward. I struggle with my weight and work hard to be healthy now in my middle adulthood.
I was very aware of my own baby's sugar, salt, and junk food intakes, avoiding all for approximately the first 3 years. By then, he actually turned up with allergies to milk, soy, and pistachios and cashews (and still as a man in his 20's has severe allergies to nuts, cashews, and peanuts), which made me even more careful well into his primary school years. He outgrew his soy allergy and handled cow's milk until adulthood, after outgrowing cow's milk allergy and soy allergy through avoidance. (He now finds that he is lactose intolerant as an adult.)
My point is that I suspect that my health chemistry challenges affected my own baby, even as I tried hard to shield him from the dangers that I was exposed to.
One might rationalize that it shows that no extra measures of avoiding sugar, salt and junk in early years really makes a difference... But I counter that the truth won't be known until my son has children and/or is middle-aged himself.
"Health" is a much longer game than we like to think it is... Much more important than the desire for instant gratification of "junk" in the present day.

[butternutyeeetsbanana.-.]

Never give you baby sugary sweets this can greatly impact their lives when they grow older, making them more prone to diabetes.😊

[nicolamarkus]

It's wild how seemingly insignificant things that occur during our earliest years can have such a lasting (and sometimes irreversible) effect on us

[Rambutan.]

Get well soon, doc 💐
And please take care and rest

[SilverMay]

What's even worse is being physically addicted to sugar while not even liking sweet as a flavor. I should be bitching about having to eat healthy foods so I don't get sick, not this garbage. Been trying to ween myself off for years but I get so sick to my stomach and a bad headache if I go too fast and then I relapse and have to start over.

[_Lynaed_]

The sad thing is, you can't avoid sugar completely. It is in everything. Even in medicine you find it

[christhaw]

Great info. My son didn't have sugary things until almost 5 and he was already so set in his ways, he preferred salad and broccoli. True story. Now he's 12, 6' and ridiculously healthy with no sweet tooth! (And a little smug about it 🙄😏)

[l_tmszk]

I live in Poland and still have book that my mother was given after birth, there was feeding plan with 2 table spoons of sugar added to every meal. I was feeded with milk substitute and doctor convinced my mother that I need added sugar in every meal because I was born month too early. It caused me to be obese from very little kid and had problems with blood sugar and hormones when I grew up :/ I'm 33 now and still fighting with insulin resistance.

[ThingsILove]

That’s how my kid looked when his grandpa gave him a big spoonful of ice cream, after I had been very careful to not introduce sugar to my baby.