Hidden Sugars Could Contribute to Childhood Obesity

May 01, 2025

Sugar hides in more places than you think—and kids often get way more than recommended. With childhood obesity affecting nearly 1 in 5 elementary-aged children, pediatrician Cindy Gellner, MD, explores how hidden sugar and portion sizes contribute to the problem. Learn how to read labels more clearly, how to visualize sugar in everyday foods, and what simple swaps can help cut down on excess sugar while keeping your child healthy and satisfied.

Transcript

_{This content was originally produced for audio. Certain elements such as tone, sound effects, and music, may not fully capture the intended experience in textual representation. Therefore, the following transcription has been modified for clarity. We recognize not everyone can access the audio podcast. However, for those who can, we encourage subscribing and listening to the original content for a more engaging and immersive experience.}

_{All thoughts and opinions expressed by hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views held by the institutions with which they are affiliated.}

Why Kids Crave Sugar

Kids love sugar. That's a known fact. But are kids eating too much hidden sugar? Could that be contributing to childhood obesity rates?

Kids are born with a sweet tooth. That's why babies and young kids like fruits more than veggies. Sugar can actually be in more foods than you think. And often, parents aren't good about figuring out how much sugar is really in their kids' diet. So what does this all mean?

The Sugar-Obesity Connection in Childhood

Well, more than 18% of elementary school-aged kids in the United States actually meet the criteria for obesity. A child is obese if their body mass index or BMI is above the 95th percentile. If you don't know what your child's BMI is, ask at the next doctor's appointment. Often, it can easily be calculated by your child's pediatrician using your child's weight and height and plotting it on a chart based on their age.

While there are many causes of childhood obesity, too much sugar in the diet is definitely a factor. In 2015, the World �ǿմ�ý Organization recommended that everyone, regardless of their age, should have less than 10% of all of their calories every day from sugar. For kids, this means no more than about 45 grams of sugar a day. Well, of course, kids can't figure that out on their own. If it were up to them, many of them would eat cookies for lunch every day. I know some adults who would, too. That's where parental control comes in.

Just for some examples. Think about what foods a lot of kids like: juice, yogurt, pizza, ketchup, pretty much the staples in a lot of kids' diets. Then think about sugar content in terms of sugar cubes. A sugar cube contains about three grams of sugar. So, doing the math, kids should have about 15 sugar cubes a day.

Practical Steps to Reduce Sugar in Your Child’s Diet

When researchers studied parents' abilities to estimate how much sugar is in certain foods, they found that about 75% of parents underestimated the sugar content. For example, about 90% of parents underestimated the amount of sugar in yogurt. Yogurt is considered a healthy food, but it can have a lot of sugar, especially if kids have bigger portions or more than one serving a day.

One thing that researchers found even more concerning was that those children who were more overweight had parents who underestimated sugar content the greatest. Think about juice. Parents think that 100% juice means it's healthy. Their kids are drinking fruit, but it's juice loaded with sugar.

So, how can you help your child keep their sugar content under control? Serve more veggies and real fruit. Read food labels and avoid foods that are high in sugar. Watch out for that hidden sugar, like high fructose corn syrup. That's basically sugar, but that's not what it's called on the label. And keep your child's portion appropriate for their age.

_{updated: May 1, 2025}
_{originally published: November 5, 2018}

�ǿմ�ý