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Sugary delights and all things nice have become synonymous with the Easter season, but parents may want to exercise moderation when filling store baskets with supersized chocolate bunnies this year.
That is, of course, if you consider the health repercussions of letting your children overindulge in the often high sugar, high fat treats already being fiercely marketed in stores for the season – and health experts are urging parents to be more mindful of this.
Read: Know what’s in your food
But take heart – that doesn’t mean depriving your children altogether.
Overweight in children is a major health concern in South Africa where, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA (HSFSA), one in four children are overweight or obese. An unhealthy diet, including excessive amounts of sugary treats and drinks, greatly contributes to South Africa’s childhood obesity problem. Sugar is known as an empty kilojoule, which means that it contributes high quantities of energy without contributing any vitamins, minerals or protein.
“During Easter, there are many sugary treats available and they are often consumed in copious amounts. When that much sugar is consumed, blood glucose levels rise rapidly. This can lead to spurts of hyperactivity. The body then compensates by secreting insulin which then lowers the blood glucose levels,” Bianca Tromp, dietician and acting nutrition science manager at the HSFSA explained to City Press this week.
When buying Easter treats, Heart and Stroke Foundation nutrition science manager Bianca Tromp says parents should remember the following tips:
1. Only buy one treat per child.
2. Buy a moderate- to small-sized treat.
3. Ensure that the rest of the meals consumed during this time are of a high nutritional value.
4. Limit sugary drinks.
5. Never let sugary treats replace a nutritious meal.
6. Create family Easter traditions that do not include treats but that can help make Easter a special season for the children.
Spending more time together as a family, partaking in outdoor physical activities, could be one of them.
“Often, after a big ‘sugar rush’, the child will then experience lethargy. Although this is a short-term effect of high sugar consumption, the Easter festive season tends to last a lot longer than only a long weekend, as many other public holidays are so close by.”
Tromp argued that, because of this extended public holiday period, the lasting impacts due to this overindulgence included tooth decay and weight gain.
The National Obesity Forum in the UK didn’t mince its words when expressing its opinion regarding the chocolate eggs – which could weigh up to a kilogram – this week, reportedly labelling them a “real risk to our health”.
The World Health Organisation recommends that no more than 5% to 10% of our total energy come from added sugars. For a seven-year-old, says dietician Nathalie Mat, this is between four and eight teaspoons of sugar a day or the same as one marshmallow egg.
Older children however, need more energy and can have more sugar as a 14-year-old has higher energy requirements than an adult and so their upper limit is more liberal.
Mat also has a more liberal approach towards the treats.
“Easter is only one day but Easter eggs are in the shops for an extended period leading up to it. Chocolates and sugary sweets are not the foundation of a healthy diet but they do pop up in the child’s world and I think it is an important life skill that a child learns on their own to regulate their intake at comfortable levels.
“To do this, adults need to feed their children mostly healthy food and have ‘fun foods’ available, but within a context that these are not every day foods; they do not help us to grow and develop,” she advised.
To reduce the stress around an Easter egg hunt, Mat – who is also the spokesperson of the Association of Dietetics in SA – said parents should let their children eat a balanced meal beforehand and then allow them the freedom to eat as many Easter eggs as they want.
“I know that this sounds controversial, so let me explain: if we are regularly deprived of a food and we feel deprived, we will overeat a food every time we have access to the ‘forbidden’ food. If, however, I know that I can eat as much chocolate as I want and will have access to it again, I will eat until I’ve had enough and then stop,” she said.
For Tromp, moderation was still key – so too for Mat.
Asked whether she had seen a shift in mind-set among South Africans regarding lifestyle dietary choices, given the obesity levels and various awareness materials out on the subject, Mat said: “Personally, in my practice I see some difficult parenting practices cropping up. Parents are not eating with their children and children are eating different foods from their parents so an important learning opportunity is being missed.
“Research has shown that children who eat family meals with their parents tend to eat a better diet. Two thirds of South African women are overweight or obese and children often model their mother’s eating behaviour. This means that children are possibly picking up undesirable behaviours from their family members. It is unfair to focus on a single family member and put only one person – whether it is a mom or a child – on a diet. A family approach is the most effective way to keep children healthy and active.”
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