We all love to eat sweets. And we know how challenging it can be to resist our sweet tooth cravings. For children and toddlers, such craving for sweet rich snacks can be more intense. As parents, we need to be careful to keep this in check as excess sweet intake may impact their healthy growth and development.  

Is sweetened drinks/ food bad for your children?

Nowadays, parents tend to give anything their children desire to avoid conflicting situations or be in the race for the best parents. Eventually, they forget that is not a healthy choice that impact’s child’s health, and it can make them obese..

How to manage your child’s cravings for sweets?

For children, their parents are their biggest role models who influence their eating habits, lifestyle, etc. That’s why, from the early stages of childhood development, parents must encourage healthy living and healthy eating habits. Parents must introduce a whole, nutritious meal in their child’s diet to avoid cravings for sweet at young age so they can quickly adapt to healthy eating.

A few tips have been enlisted below to limit your children’s cravings for sweet intake:

• Teach your children about the health impact of consuming sweet-rich snacks. From the very start, it is essential to educate them about what is suitable and not suitable for their health.  
• Avoid sweetened beverages. You need to gradually reduce the intake of sweetened drinks, like packed juices, soft drinks, lemonade, sodas, etc. Instead, prepare sugar free fresh juice or lemonade at home
• Stop keeping a jar of candies or chocolates at home
• Prepare delicious and healthy snacks for your children. Limit sweet content in food or in the drinks.
• Increase the intake of fresh fruits and vegetables to fulfil their dietary requirements
• Engage your children in physical activities like walking, exercise, yoga, meditation, etc., from young age to help them stay healthy and avoid obesity. 

When kids choose sweetened foods, they are less likely to consume healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, protein, etc., With gradual and consistent efforts, reduce and or limit sweet content of food. Increase quantity of proteins and vegetables to make it a balanced meal that enables healthy growth and development. Such conscious efforts can ensure that your child lives an active lifestyle and may be free from frequent illnesses and have healthy growth as per his /her age.

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Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are only for general information purposes and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for any specific health and wellness concerns or questions.