July 7, 2017
A few months back, I decided to start taking an Omega 3 Supplement. I went to my local bulk food store and found some gummy bear supplements. Now, I know that gummy bears are for kids but if it helps me take my vitamins, I’m all for it.
Omega 3 Children’s Supplement
When I ate my first one, I found it to be really sweet and I looked to see how many I should eat a day and how much sugar was in each gummy.
The directions on the back of the bottle said children 2 – 4 years of age could have 4 gummies daily. Children 4 years or older could have 4 gummies, 1 – 3 times a day. At most, a child could eat 12 gummies a day. I took a quick peek at the ingredients and the first things listed were: glucose syrup and sugar, but not to mention of how many grams of sugar per gummy.
I went to the Ironkids Essentials Website and found out there is are 1.3 grams of sugar per vitamin, but it’s ‘ok because it’s natural sugar’.
If a child is eating the maximum allowable gummies each day, they are consuming 15.6 grams of sugar from gummies alone. (4 gummies x 3 times a day = 12 gummies x 1.3g per gummy = 15.6 grams of sugar)
According to the American Heart Association, children should consume no more than 25 grams of added sugar a day, or 6 teaspoons. (which seems high to me). The Association also stated that: “Eating foods high in added sugars throughout childhood is linked to the development of risk factors for heart disease, such as an increased risk of obesity and elevated blood pressure in children and young adults.
By taking the maximum recommended dosage, a child is already more than half way through the daily allowable grams of added sugar just taking a supplement.
With the amount of sugar children are consuming with foods like fruits, breads, yogurts etc, they can’t afford to be eating up half their allowable grams of sugar eating gummy supplements.
Please take the time to look at the ingredients on the back of your children’s vitamin bottles. Better yet, go to the website and find out how much sugar they are consuming. It might make you reconsider giving them to your children.
http://newsroom.heart.org/news/children-should-eat-less-than-25-grams-of-added-sugars-daily
