Read about why we decided to delay the introduction of added sugar until after my son turned two years old!
Hi Friends!
If you follow my blog or Instagram account, you know that I have a HUGE sweet tooth and definitely am not afraid to enjoy sweets in moderated amounts. On my Instagram account, it’s not uncommon to see a photo of a donut or on the blog posts such as this one, “Following My Sweet Cravings through NYC.” While my family doesn’t have quite the sweet tooth I do, they also occasionally enjoy sugar-sweetened foods.
I have struggled with craving sugar-sweetened foods for as long as I can remember. I have gone through periods of my life when I ate less sugar-sweetened foods and drank less sugar-sweetened beverages. Over the past decade, the desire for sugar-sweetened beverages has diminished, but the cravings for cookies, candies, and ice cream have always remained. One thing I have learned from personal experiences and through providing nutrition counseling to clients is that completely depriving yourself of any food often leads to overindulging at some point, which can then lead to an unhealthy relationship with food.
When my son was born, one of my goals for him was to create a solid nutrition foundation and a healthy relationship with food. I breastfed him until he was 14 months ago, exposed him to the top 8 allergens before he reached ten months, offered ample fruits and vegetables, AND delayed offering him sugar until after the age of 2. My biggest motivation for delaying exposure to added sugar was taste preference. I was hoping if I didn’t expose him to sugar until he better developed his taste preferences, he would be less likely to struggle with the sweet cravings that I have always had.
Reducing my son’s taste preference for sugar was not the only motivator for delaying adding sugar until after the age of 2. Sadly for many children, sugar-sweetened foods replace other nutrient-dense foods. A majority of sugar-sweetened foods offer little to no nutrition value. I wanted to expose my son to a variety of nutrient-dense foods and flavors, in hopes he wouldn’t develop picky eating habits. Additionally, several studies suggest exposing children to added sugar at a younger age, increases the incidence of cavities.
Not offering my toddler any food or beverages with added sugar was not always easy. Family members (especially the Grandparents) wanted to offer him various sweetened foods and beverages such as candy, cake, and juice. On occasion, juice was offered at his school. Other children had birthday celebrations at school, which involved cake and cupcakes. If I was present I kindly explained that we were delaying the introduction to sugar, but knew there were times it was hard to control.
For his first birthday, I still wanted to offer him a smash cake but wasn’t quite ready to expose him to all the added sugar that is typically used to make most cakes (and icing). So I committed to creating a healthier smash cake recipe. After experimenting with several recipes, I came up with this healthier smash cake recipe creation to offer him. He didn’t end up eating any of it and screamed the whole time, but I think that’s part of the fun of a smash cake. Or maybe the dense whole grain cake topped with Greek yogurt icing was just not his thing?!
Of course, there is irony to my healthier smash cake creation. On my son’s birthday, I arrived at daycare to find out the mother of another boy who happened to share the same birthday brought the class mini cupcakes topped with a mountain of sugar-sweetened icing. My initial reaction was that of anger and panic! I politely spoke to the teacher and asked if she could not offer my son a cupcake. She looked at me like I had two heads – I was asking her not to offer my son a cupcake on his own birthday. I explained the rationale and she asked if she could at least offer him a cupcake without the icing. I agreed but asked this didn’t become a regular thing.
I have to be clear on one thing – I never had ANY intentions of restricting his sugar intake after his 2ndbirthday. I just hoped that by delaying exposure he would develop a taste preference for more nutrition dense foods. Around his second birthday, I started gradually offering him small amounts of sugar-sweetened foods such as a bite of ice cream or a cookie. I also knew that he was starting to get offered sugar-sweetened foods more and more outside the house, and I could no longer avoid these offerings.
As a Registered Dietitian, I knew restriction and avoidance of any food group for the long haul wouldn’t help create a healthy relationship for his future eating habits. Avoiding or restricting food groups can lead to overindulging and unhealthy thoughts about food. I never wanted him to feel guilt or shame for eating any type of food. So avoiding the introduction of sugar until the age of two allowed enough time for his taste preferences to develop but it was time to teach balance.
Two years later I still strongly stick with my decision to delay the introduction of added sugar to my toddler’s diet. Currently, my son does enjoy foods with added sugar (and sometimes beverages with added sugar) several times throughout the week. However, he is not asking for sugar-sweetened foods or beverages incessantly. Yes, he will definitely ask for sweetened foods when there is an environmental cue such as a package of cookies sitting on the counter or after observing someone else eating something, but rarely asks for them on his own.
Our family will often go out for ice cream on Fridays or enjoy donuts on the weekends – it’s common for him not to finish moderated servings offered to him. Once he feels satisfied he stops. He knows because this is not a restricted food he will be offered it again and doesn’t feel the need to overindulge.
Now did my delay in added sugar lead to non-picky eating habits? Perhaps not. Despite my efforts to introduce a variety of food groups and ample fruits and veggies during his first two years of life, we still have a relatively picky eater on our hands. Vegetables are still a huge struggle despite continual exposure. Perhaps I will share more about this in a future blog post?
Many organizations offer recommendations and guidance for feeding children. However, the decision of what you feed your child is still a personal one and should be based on what works best for your family. Delaying added sugar in my son’s diet did work well for our family, and he was able to maximize the nutrition-packed foods he was exposed to the first 2 years of life. If you decide not to delay the introduction of sugar-sweetened foods I highly encourage you to keep portions extremely small and not make it a regular habit. I certainly understand with multiple children in the house it becomes more difficult. To help with delaying added sugars in your children’s’ diet check out Strong 4 Life’s guide of simple swaps to avoid added sugar.
Happy Feeding!