Chijioke Iremeka
Consultant paediatricians say excess sugar in food formulas may increase the risk of obesity, abdominal bloating, musculoskeletal disorder, diarrhoea, and vomiting among others in babies.
The specialists, who said putting sugar to taste is the standard recommendation for optimal development of children, said not putting sugar at all for babies is not good.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise in different interviews, the physicians said sugar in babies is required to make their food tasty, but that too much of it may make them to reject it.
A Consultant Paediatrician at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State, Dr Stanley Onah said added sugar to the children’s formula is not a bad practice but when in excess, it could be detrimental to their health.
He said the challenges of excess sugar in the infant formula could manifest as musculoskeletal disorders, obesity, child diabetes, and stomach upset, among others.
The consultant said, “I have heard several women say that they don’t put sugar in their babies’ food, especially in pap but that is wrong. You have to put sugar in their food to make it tasty and attractive to them. With moderate sugar in the food, the child will feed well.
“If the food is not tasty, they will reject it and this will now lead to forceful feeding of the child. To the best of my knowledge, sugar is also a source of nutrients to children.
“Also, the baby may be consuming sugar higher than normal in the body. If the baby has an infection, the body will be consuming sugar faster and as a result require sugar in its food,” Onah said.
More importantly, the consultant paediatrician noted that some children are hyperactive and are most likely to burn the sugar as they play, adding that sugar gives children strength.
Speaking further, a Consultant Paediatrician at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Kwara State, Dr. Bunmi Mokuolu, said excess of everything is bad, noting that the expression ‘too much, too little’, goes to explain the situation.
She noted that sugar should be added to taste and not in excess, insisting that the same applies to salt.
Mokuolu said, “Sugar doesn’t have to be added in excess. It is just like the way we add salt to our food. If you put too much salt, it is bad and you can’t eat that food and when you put too small, the food will be tasteless.
“So, you add salt to taste and the same thing goes for sugar. You add sugar to taste so that the baby will be able to eat the food, but excess of it can cause abdominal bloating, diarrhoea, and vomiting.
“Children are naturally active and some hyperactive. So when you add sugar in excess, they get more hyperactive and I am sure that most parents may not want that. This is because sugar is a source of energy. Increased sugar in the baby’s or children’s food could also be a source of obesity and other undesirable health conditions.
“However, I want to state that sugar on its own does not cause diabetes but there are other factors that could cause diabetes in children. So, I end by saying that sugar should be added to taste to make the food tasty and not bland, while excess is bad.”
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