Jacob Teitelbaum - Beat Sugar Addiction Now! for Kids: The Cutting-Edge Program That Gets Kids Off Sugar Safely, Easily, and Without Fights and Drama

FOR KIDS

The Cutting-Edge Program That Gets Your Kids Off Sugar Safely, Easily, and Without Fights and Drama

JACOB TEITELBAUM, M.D.

Best Selling Author of Beat Sugar Addiction Now!

DEBORAH KENNEDY, PH.D.

Founder and CEO, Build Healthy Kids

Contents

How to minimize the fights, tears, and drama that can come from taking away your childrens favorite treats

Parent Pull-Out Sheets:

The skinny on juice, flavored milk, and other healthy drinks that your children are hooked on

What you should know, but probably dont, about the health hazards of liquid sugar

Parent Pull-Out Sheets:

Start your children off the right way to avoid sugar highs and lows

Parent Pull-Out Sheets:

How too many discretionary calories and food-based rewards set your child up for a lifelong sugar addiction

Parent Pull-Out Sheets:

Set rules and consequences and create healthy, tasty alternatives

Parent Pull-Out Sheets:

Get rid of sneaky sugar and teach your children to do the same

Parent Pull-Out Sheets:

Tips to continue following a low-sugar diet every day

Parent Pull-Out Sheets:

Introduction

Does your childrens day with food look something like this: juice and cereal, a doughnut or a toaster cake for breakfast; chocolate milk, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and a granola bar for lunch; soda or a juice box with cookies after school; and white pasta with spaghetti sauce, no vegetables, and dessert for dinner? If so, they most likely are addicted to sugar or, at the very least, strongly prefer sweet-tasting processed items to such a degree that they eat small amounts, if any, of the whole grains, vegetables, and protein they need to grow up healthy and strong.

Some of you know for sure that your child is addicted to sugar; some of you may think that your child has an issue with eating too much sugar but are not sure whether you would call him or her an addict. This book applies to either situation, especially if any of the following are true for your child.

Your child drinks more than one sweet beverage a day (including juice, soda, flavored milk, sports and energy drinks, flavored water, sweetened teas or coffee) Or

Your childs breakfast usually centers on something sweet, such as sugar-sweetened cereal, a doughnut, a toaster cake, a breakfast bar, pancakes, or waffles Or

Your child eats more than one or two sweet treats a day (candy, cookies, pies, yogurt sticks, fruit roll-ups or gummy fruit, cake, cupcakes, or frozen desserts like ice cream) Or

Your child eats little for dinner (and may eat few to no vegetables) but always has room for a sweet dessert Or

Your child has trouble stopping at one serving of a sweet food and screams for more Or

Your childs mood seems to be determined by diet; he or she gets full of energy after a sweet treat and crashes an hour or two later

You have picked up this book because you have a child who consumes lots of items high in sugar. The good news is that by following the steps in this book, you will be able to reverse his or her preference for highly sweetened foods.

Are you ready now to start your children on a five-step journey toward turning their sugar addiction around? We hope so. We have, between us seven, children and more than fifty years of experience in dealing with children and their diets.

We developed this step-by-step program with these essential elements:

1. Easy to follow. Your child focuses on making just one change at a time until he or she reaches the goal. You can follow the steps in the order they are presented or jump to whichever step you determine is most important.

2. Easy on your child. We take it slowly to lessen and limit the negative side effects on your child that often occur when reducing sugar intake. It took your child a long time to develop these unhealthy eating habits, and we allow for as much time as is necessary to turn them around.

3. Easier for you. We give you enough information, tools, and practical advice to make sure that your child follows the program. At the end of the day, getting your child on board is essential for turning around his or her sugar addiction.

What is the harm in giving your children a couple of cookies every day? None. We are not here to completely eliminate sweets from your childrens diet; rather, we invite you to limit the amount of added sugar they consume in a day. In most cases, that cookie is not the only source of added sugar in a typical day. They most likely start off with a sugar-laden breakfast, drink chocolate milk, juice boxes, or soda throughout the day, grab a granola bar or fruit gummies as a snack, and eat dessert after dinner.

These added sugar sources add up to increased risks of your child becoming overweight or obese and developing diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and behavioral and learning disorders. In addition, they may get more cavities, build softer bones, which may lead to osteoporosis and fractures, and develop a weakened immune system. The hard truth is that allowing your children to eat an unhealthy diet with lots of added sugar means they may not reach their full potential for growth and intelligence or develop a strong immune system. Those are high stakes!

Sometimes, it helps to put these potential consequences in terms that are more real to children who normally (and healthfully) feel immortal. Examples include:

Research has shown that a low-sugar, high-protein diet cut acne by half after 12 weeks. The good news? Chocolate did not worsen the acne.

A high intake of sugar was associated with a dramatic increase in bone fractures in children.

High sugar intake results in nutritional deficiencies that not only leave children less able to compete in sports or school, but also may cause a delay in sexual maturation during puberty.

Our kids consume 28 percent more sugar than they did only sixteen years ago, and this rate is rising. In the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, based on data from 2003 and 2004, American children averaged about 23 teaspoons (92 g) of sugar a day, or 175 cups (35 kg) a year! Twenty-three teaspoons (92 g) of added sugar a day equals about 78 pounds (35 kg) a year, which is equal to the average weight of a nine-year-old girl. Many younger children consume their weight, or more, in added sugar every year!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture advises limiting the amount of added sugar to no more than 8 teaspoons (32 g) a day in a 2,000-calorie diet. Our kids are getting double to almost triple that amount.

To put it in perspective, the USDA advises limiting the amount of added sugar and total fat calories to no more than 260 calories a day, which would translate to about 8 teaspoons (32 g) a day of added sugar in a 2,000-calorie diet, with half the remaining calories being reserved for solid fats. Our kids are getting double to almost triple that amountand this is a conservative estimate. Data suggests that children are not the only ones consuming too much sugar. The average adult consumes 140 to 150 pounds (64 to 68 kg) of sugar added to their diet each year from processed food and beverages.