Today, one in three American children and adolescents are overweight or obese – nearly triple the rate in the 1960s, according to the American Heart Association.
In addition, children are experiencing a broad range of health issues that previously weren't appearing until adulthood like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol levels – all of which are high-risk factors for developing heart disease as an adult.
In Sept. 2012, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of two separate clinical trials both linking the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks with childhood weight gain.
Registered dietitian at Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach Amanda Legro, RD, reveals the results from the clinical trials, why sugary and energy drinks are bad for your child's health, plus good alternatives for you to switch to.
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What’s in Your Child’s Cup? And Why it Matters
Featured Speaker:
Organization: Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach
Amanda Legro, RD
Amanda Legro, RD is a registered dietitian at Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach. She obtained her Bachelor's Degree at California State University Long Beach and is now pursuing a Master's Degree in Nutrition Science. She is an active member of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, California Dietetic Association, and Orange County Dietetic Association. Amanda is passionate about educating families on the importance of nutrition for optimizing their health and well-being. She strives to translate evidence-based nutrition research into practical nutrition advice that can adapt to fit a variety of cultures, lifestyles and health goals.Organization: Miller Children's Hospital Long Beach
Transcription:
What’s in Your Child’s Cup? And Why it Matters
Deborah Howell (Host): Hello. Welcome to the show. You’re listening to Weekly Dose of Wellness brought to you by MemorialCare Health System. I’m Deborah Howell, and today’s guest is Amanda Legro, a registered dietitian at Miller Children’s Hospital, Long Beach now pursuing a Master’s Degree in Nutrition Science. She’s an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the California Dietetic Association, and Orange County Dietetics Association. She’s also passionate about educating families on the importance of nutrition for optimizing their health and well-being. Welcome, Amanda. Amanda Legro (Guest): Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Deborah: Our pleasure. Today’s show is about what’s in our child’s cup. With the alarming growth of diabetes in America, nearly triple the rate in the ‘60s, we need to know. First of all, what is a sugary drink? Legro: A sugar-sweetened beverage is a drink with added sugar. Common sugar sweetened beverages include sodas, juice, punch, sweetened teas, sports drinks, and blended coffee drinks or smoothies. One way to know if your beverage is sugar-sweetened is by looking at the ingredients list on the nutrition label. Sweeteners have many different names, so it’s easy to be fooled if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. Some common ingredients that you might see beside sugar are high-fructose corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, sucrose, dextrose. So those are a few to look out for. It’s important to always check the food label. Deborah: Interesting. I didn’t know dextrose was a sweetener. I just thought that was some random thing they always threw in there, but now I know. So it’s important to know what these things are. Legro: Exactly. Deborah: Are fruit drinks better choices than sodas for our kids? Legro: Fruit drinks are a better choice as a sugar sweetened beverage, because they do contain important nutrients and vitamins that fruit contains. However, it’s good to make sure you’re watching portion sizes. Recommended portion sizes for fruit juice is 4 ounces. However, it’s commonly sold in bottles of 12 to 16 ounces. It does contain natural fruit sugar, so that still is a high-sugar beverage. If your child does like to drink the fruit juices, one way to help control portion sizes is to dilute it with water. Or even adding fruit juice to sparkling water can help make a refreshing sparkly beverage that the kid would enjoy that’s low in calories. Deborah: What about one of those juice boxes? How many ounces are those? Legro: They do come in different serving sizes, but the ones you would want choose are the 4-ounce juice boxes because that’s the serving size. Something that’s important when you are picking the fruit juices is to make sure it says 100 percent fruit. This is how you know that there’s no added sugar and it’s made directly from the fruit. You can see this on the food label on the ingredients list as well. Deborah: A lot of kids, they have the Fruit Loops for breakfast and then they follow it up with a gigantic orange juice. It’s like a sugar bomb. Legro: Exactly, a very high-calorie, high-sugar meal. Deborah: What would be the benefit to cutting the sugary drink at least out of my child’s diet? They’re going to probably have a cereal with some content of sugar in it. But if we could cut the sugary drink out, at least maybe three or four Cokes a day, that would be very helpful, right? Legro: Exactly. Cutting out sugar-sweetened beverages is a great way to reduce total calories, increase nutrient-dense foods, and promote lifelong health. As I discussed earlier, these beverages contribute significantly to total calories in your child’s diet. They’re what we like to call empty calories, because these beverages often contain no nutrients, fibers, proteins that are important from their food. Cutting down on empty calories can help leave more room for nutrient-dense foods and help for weight management. Another important benefit is just promoting lifelong health. Studies show that children who consume sugar-sweetened beverages are more likely to consume these beverages in adulthood and more likely to be overweight and overweight as adults. So the habits our kids form now will determine their eating habits in the future. Setting a good example will help promote healthy weight management and success as an adult, essentially. Deborah: I’m laughing because my mother always used to say, “Deborah, those are empty calories.” I just thought that was something she made up. Now, talking to you, I know it’s a real thing. The other thing about empty calories is they don’t satisfy like something healthy that you put into your body. If you put in a spinach smoothie, you’re going to feel full because you’re giving your body what it needs. Legro: That’s one reason that the sugar-sweetened beverages increase the total calories consumed in a day because they don’t have a lot of fiber or protein that the whole food has. So you’re often eating way too many calories because you don’t feel full as you would by consuming a nutritious beverage or just the whole food itself. Deborah: If you have a really great smoothie, you can make them kid-friendly. You can use some alternative sources of sweeteners. Maybe you could tell us what could go into a smoothie that would help your kid feel healthy and full, at least through lunchtime. Legro: If families do want to do smoothies, this can be a good alternative. However, you still need to be sure that you’re not including more than 4 ounces of fruit juice, and that you’re not including excessive servings of fruit, because those still do contain a lot of sugar. Some healthy ingredients that you can add to your smoothie is non-fat yogurt or even non-fat milk. Even a tablespoon of peanut butter can help provide healthy fat and some proteins that can help the child feel full longer. Also, a lot of parents say that their kids don’t like to eat vegetables, but smoothies are a great way to disguise a serving of vegetable because the natural fruit sugar can help hide that flavor. They can get a lot of the benefits from their vegetables from smoothies. Deborah: Sneak it in there. Get a good juicer. Now, what about energy drinks? Are they okay? Legro: Energy drinks are definitely not recommended for any children or even adolescents under the age of 18. There are a few reasons. A lot of them have large doses of vitamins and herbal supplements. The amount of these vitamins are often much higher—sometimes 100 to 200 percent higher—than the recommended daily dose. There’s not enough research to say if this is healthy or what kind of effect this can have on children. Really, research has shown that the energy from these energy drinks come from the caffeine content. Caffeine is not recommended for children. As some of us have experienced, it can cause many negative side effects like upset stomach and headaches. Difficulty in concentrating, nervousness, and rapid heartbeat is alarming for kids. Deborah: And addiction. Legro: So they’re never a good beverage choice. Deborah: A lot of the sports are sponsored by these energy drinks, so just keep that in mind. Now, what about high blood pressure? Do some children suffer from that like adults do? Legro: Yes, some children do suffer from high blood pressure. It’s something we’re seeing because of our food choices. The nutrition that the children are getting is that they’re suffering from these chronic diseases—also diabetes and heart disease—that were only in the past thought of to be adult problems. We’re seeing more children, because of poor nutrition in their diets, that are suffering from these chronic diseases at an earlier age. Deborah: How would you even know that your child has high blood pressure? What would be the signs and symptoms for a child? Legro: It’s best that your child is getting regular check-ups at their doctor’s office. This can help to diagnose or see the early signs of some of these chronic diseases. High blood pressure can be found from the simple blood pressure checks that the doctor does at the doctor’s office. Reducing blood pressure and catching it early can help to set them up for a healthy lifestyle and better success as an adult. Deborah: What’s the normal or the average of what we should be shooting for blood pressure for our kids? Legro: The blood pressure should not exceed 120/80. Based on different medical conditions that your child may experience, the doctor can recommend a different healthy range if that applies to your child. Deborah: Why don’t we go through a day? Say you have an 8-year-old girl. Can you give us three meals, including the drinks along with these meals? And then maybe an additional drink for a snack during the afternoon after she goes outside and plays. Legro: For any child, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Research has shown that helps them concentrate and even get better scores in school because they don’t have the empty stomach and they have the carbohydrates for their brain. So definitely, I would recommend that she starts her day with a healthy, well-balanced breakfast. As a healthy drink, not a sugar sweetened beverage. Some options for breakfast can include non-fat milk, 4 ounces of 100 percent fruit juice, or even some water, if she’s having a piece of toast and a fruit. I would recommend small snacks throughout the day—one before lunch and one before dinner—just so that she can not feel hungry before her next meal. Good alternative beverage choices for all of her meals are what I mentioned before, non-fat or 1 percent milk, 100 percent fruit juice, or with sparking water, as I mentioned before, and water. Water really is the best alternative beverage for our children. It’s free and easily accessible. Deborah: We’re made of it. Legro: Yes, exactly. Deborah: I’m sorry. I do have to stop you there because we are out of time. Thank you so much, Amanda, for finding the time to talk to us today about some of the problems of the sugary drinks and for giving us some great alternatives so we can keep our kids happy and healthy. It’s been a real pressure having you on the show. I’m Deborah Howell. Join us again next time as we explore another weekly dose of wellness.
What’s in Your Child’s Cup? And Why it Matters
Deborah Howell (Host): Hello. Welcome to the show. You’re listening to Weekly Dose of Wellness brought to you by MemorialCare Health System. I’m Deborah Howell, and today’s guest is Amanda Legro, a registered dietitian at Miller Children’s Hospital, Long Beach now pursuing a Master’s Degree in Nutrition Science. She’s an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the California Dietetic Association, and Orange County Dietetics Association. She’s also passionate about educating families on the importance of nutrition for optimizing their health and well-being. Welcome, Amanda. Amanda Legro (Guest): Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Deborah: Our pleasure. Today’s show is about what’s in our child’s cup. With the alarming growth of diabetes in America, nearly triple the rate in the ‘60s, we need to know. First of all, what is a sugary drink? Legro: A sugar-sweetened beverage is a drink with added sugar. Common sugar sweetened beverages include sodas, juice, punch, sweetened teas, sports drinks, and blended coffee drinks or smoothies. One way to know if your beverage is sugar-sweetened is by looking at the ingredients list on the nutrition label. Sweeteners have many different names, so it’s easy to be fooled if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. Some common ingredients that you might see beside sugar are high-fructose corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, sucrose, dextrose. So those are a few to look out for. It’s important to always check the food label. Deborah: Interesting. I didn’t know dextrose was a sweetener. I just thought that was some random thing they always threw in there, but now I know. So it’s important to know what these things are. Legro: Exactly. Deborah: Are fruit drinks better choices than sodas for our kids? Legro: Fruit drinks are a better choice as a sugar sweetened beverage, because they do contain important nutrients and vitamins that fruit contains. However, it’s good to make sure you’re watching portion sizes. Recommended portion sizes for fruit juice is 4 ounces. However, it’s commonly sold in bottles of 12 to 16 ounces. It does contain natural fruit sugar, so that still is a high-sugar beverage. If your child does like to drink the fruit juices, one way to help control portion sizes is to dilute it with water. Or even adding fruit juice to sparkling water can help make a refreshing sparkly beverage that the kid would enjoy that’s low in calories. Deborah: What about one of those juice boxes? How many ounces are those? Legro: They do come in different serving sizes, but the ones you would want choose are the 4-ounce juice boxes because that’s the serving size. Something that’s important when you are picking the fruit juices is to make sure it says 100 percent fruit. This is how you know that there’s no added sugar and it’s made directly from the fruit. You can see this on the food label on the ingredients list as well. Deborah: A lot of kids, they have the Fruit Loops for breakfast and then they follow it up with a gigantic orange juice. It’s like a sugar bomb. Legro: Exactly, a very high-calorie, high-sugar meal. Deborah: What would be the benefit to cutting the sugary drink at least out of my child’s diet? They’re going to probably have a cereal with some content of sugar in it. But if we could cut the sugary drink out, at least maybe three or four Cokes a day, that would be very helpful, right? Legro: Exactly. Cutting out sugar-sweetened beverages is a great way to reduce total calories, increase nutrient-dense foods, and promote lifelong health. As I discussed earlier, these beverages contribute significantly to total calories in your child’s diet. They’re what we like to call empty calories, because these beverages often contain no nutrients, fibers, proteins that are important from their food. Cutting down on empty calories can help leave more room for nutrient-dense foods and help for weight management. Another important benefit is just promoting lifelong health. Studies show that children who consume sugar-sweetened beverages are more likely to consume these beverages in adulthood and more likely to be overweight and overweight as adults. So the habits our kids form now will determine their eating habits in the future. Setting a good example will help promote healthy weight management and success as an adult, essentially. Deborah: I’m laughing because my mother always used to say, “Deborah, those are empty calories.” I just thought that was something she made up. Now, talking to you, I know it’s a real thing. The other thing about empty calories is they don’t satisfy like something healthy that you put into your body. If you put in a spinach smoothie, you’re going to feel full because you’re giving your body what it needs. Legro: That’s one reason that the sugar-sweetened beverages increase the total calories consumed in a day because they don’t have a lot of fiber or protein that the whole food has. So you’re often eating way too many calories because you don’t feel full as you would by consuming a nutritious beverage or just the whole food itself. Deborah: If you have a really great smoothie, you can make them kid-friendly. You can use some alternative sources of sweeteners. Maybe you could tell us what could go into a smoothie that would help your kid feel healthy and full, at least through lunchtime. Legro: If families do want to do smoothies, this can be a good alternative. However, you still need to be sure that you’re not including more than 4 ounces of fruit juice, and that you’re not including excessive servings of fruit, because those still do contain a lot of sugar. Some healthy ingredients that you can add to your smoothie is non-fat yogurt or even non-fat milk. Even a tablespoon of peanut butter can help provide healthy fat and some proteins that can help the child feel full longer. Also, a lot of parents say that their kids don’t like to eat vegetables, but smoothies are a great way to disguise a serving of vegetable because the natural fruit sugar can help hide that flavor. They can get a lot of the benefits from their vegetables from smoothies. Deborah: Sneak it in there. Get a good juicer. Now, what about energy drinks? Are they okay? Legro: Energy drinks are definitely not recommended for any children or even adolescents under the age of 18. There are a few reasons. A lot of them have large doses of vitamins and herbal supplements. The amount of these vitamins are often much higher—sometimes 100 to 200 percent higher—than the recommended daily dose. There’s not enough research to say if this is healthy or what kind of effect this can have on children. Really, research has shown that the energy from these energy drinks come from the caffeine content. Caffeine is not recommended for children. As some of us have experienced, it can cause many negative side effects like upset stomach and headaches. Difficulty in concentrating, nervousness, and rapid heartbeat is alarming for kids. Deborah: And addiction. Legro: So they’re never a good beverage choice. Deborah: A lot of the sports are sponsored by these energy drinks, so just keep that in mind. Now, what about high blood pressure? Do some children suffer from that like adults do? Legro: Yes, some children do suffer from high blood pressure. It’s something we’re seeing because of our food choices. The nutrition that the children are getting is that they’re suffering from these chronic diseases—also diabetes and heart disease—that were only in the past thought of to be adult problems. We’re seeing more children, because of poor nutrition in their diets, that are suffering from these chronic diseases at an earlier age. Deborah: How would you even know that your child has high blood pressure? What would be the signs and symptoms for a child? Legro: It’s best that your child is getting regular check-ups at their doctor’s office. This can help to diagnose or see the early signs of some of these chronic diseases. High blood pressure can be found from the simple blood pressure checks that the doctor does at the doctor’s office. Reducing blood pressure and catching it early can help to set them up for a healthy lifestyle and better success as an adult. Deborah: What’s the normal or the average of what we should be shooting for blood pressure for our kids? Legro: The blood pressure should not exceed 120/80. Based on different medical conditions that your child may experience, the doctor can recommend a different healthy range if that applies to your child. Deborah: Why don’t we go through a day? Say you have an 8-year-old girl. Can you give us three meals, including the drinks along with these meals? And then maybe an additional drink for a snack during the afternoon after she goes outside and plays. Legro: For any child, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Research has shown that helps them concentrate and even get better scores in school because they don’t have the empty stomach and they have the carbohydrates for their brain. So definitely, I would recommend that she starts her day with a healthy, well-balanced breakfast. As a healthy drink, not a sugar sweetened beverage. Some options for breakfast can include non-fat milk, 4 ounces of 100 percent fruit juice, or even some water, if she’s having a piece of toast and a fruit. I would recommend small snacks throughout the day—one before lunch and one before dinner—just so that she can not feel hungry before her next meal. Good alternative beverage choices for all of her meals are what I mentioned before, non-fat or 1 percent milk, 100 percent fruit juice, or with sparking water, as I mentioned before, and water. Water really is the best alternative beverage for our children. It’s free and easily accessible. Deborah: We’re made of it. Legro: Yes, exactly. Deborah: I’m sorry. I do have to stop you there because we are out of time. Thank you so much, Amanda, for finding the time to talk to us today about some of the problems of the sugary drinks and for giving us some great alternatives so we can keep our kids happy and healthy. It’s been a real pressure having you on the show. I’m Deborah Howell. Join us again next time as we explore another weekly dose of wellness.