How to avoid giving your baby a sweet tooth
Babies who are given sweet things to eat or drink are more likely to get a taste for sweet foods than babies who are not. Giving babies food with added sugar can cause these serious problems:
- It can rot their tiny teeth, and lead to fillings and even lost teeth (drinks with added sugar are particularly bad for babies’ teeth – it’s like giving a baby a lolly to suck on all day).
- It can put them at a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese, which can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers in later life.
- Giving your baby a sweet tooth also means that they are more likely to keep pestering and crying for sugary things. This makes it difficult to say ‘no’ to but means that your baby learns that crying and pestering will get them what they want.
The right track
It's much easier to get your baby on the right track now than to try and change what they eat later.
Healthy snacks
| Don't eat these |
Eat these! |
Instead of . . .
Chocolate bars
Sweets
Biscuits
Cakes
Pastries
Ice cream
Sugared or toffee popcorn
Crisps
|
. . . Try
Canned fruit - toddlers love peach, pear and pineapple slices in their own juice
Fresh fruit -
look out for fruit that's in season, it's cheaper!
Yoghurt - make sure it's unsweetened, and then add fruit for a delicious snack or pudding.
Frozen yoghurt - make sure it's unsweetened.
Frozen fruit - defrost slices of fruit and veg.
Rice pudding
Porridge
Baked fruit - put apples, pears and rhubarb into a dish and bake them for about 30 mins. Serve with yoghurt. Delicious
Stewed fruit - gently heat up some fruit in a saucepan with a little water or squeezed orange juice, but don't add sugar. Serve with yoghurt.
Bread rolls or toasted bread
Dry cereal without added sugar
Bread sticks
Potato cakes
Bagels
Rice cakes
|
Sneaky sugars
Some sugars are found in obvious places like fizzy drinks or squash, sweets, cakes, biscuits, pastries and chocolate. But some are found in food and drinks that many people think are healthy, so keep an eye on the sugar content of food and drink you give to the kids.
Foods like rusks, dried fruit, baked beans, some baby food, and drinks like sweetened fruit juice, cordial, milk shakes and flavoured water can actually contain lots of sugar. Unsweetened fruit juice is a healthier option when diluted, but better served with a meal as it is still high in sugar.
Research shows that it is best to give little ones milk (although not cow’s milk as a drink until 12 months) and water to drink, and things like fruit, toast, breadsticks and rice cakes instead of sugary snacks.
And there are lots of other ways to get the best Start4Life.