Obesity: is it related to sugar in children’s diets?

Abstract

Children’s diets tend to be higher in sugars than those of adults, and parents often associate sugar with obesity. Contrary to this hypothesis, surveys of various age groups all tend to show an inverse relationship between sugars and body mass index (BMI). In the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey of children aged 11/2 to 41/2 years, children with the lowest sugar intakes, or whose diets were lowest in biscuits and cakes, or table sugar and preserves, had the highest BMI. Over‐emphasizing the avoidance of sugars may, paradoxically, be counterproductive in preventing obesity. Due to the phenomenon known as the sugar:fat see‐saw, a diet low in sugars tends to be proportionately high in fat. It is concluded that there is little justification in limiting NME sugars to 10 per cent of energy, for the avoidance of obesity.