One of the few benefits of the differences between my daughter’s mom and I is a desire to research. To better understand and communicate those differences to my daughter in a clear, understandable and scientific way.
One of our key differences what we feed our daughter. With her mom it is fast food, lots of sugar (that is not being hyperbolic), and lack of focus on what I would call proper nutrition. Our daughter has taken a huge step backwards in healthy eating in the past year.
So, I started a deeper dive into the effects of sugar on the body. Specifically children. Turns out there is currently some debate on the issue. I really wanted to understand this better for my daughter’s health.
Turns out, it is not too hard-to-find research going both ways. Some say it does not influence behavior and cognitive abilities in children. Here is one resource The effect of sugar on behavior or cognition in children. A meta-analysis – PubMed (nih.gov).
Yet, we are aware of the effects of sugar on the body. Leading to stroke and dementia (Sugar- and Artificially Sweetened Beverages and the Risks of Incident Stroke and Dementia | Stroke (ahajournals.org)). It’s been found to be more addictive than cocaine, linked to poor mental health, effects sleeping, and is linked to Alzheimer’s disease (of which she’s had a Great Grandma on each side of her family die with Alzheimer’s in the seven years she’s been alive) (Sugar and mental health: A toxic combination? (medicalnewstoday.com)).
Yet, all I do is get mocked and made fun of by the ex’s family for my healthy eating. Even accusing me of giving her an eating disorder for trying to teach her to eat healthy. Two of the first big changes to my daughter’s life a year ago when I moved out was less sleep and more sugar. And the effects were immediately noticeable. It would be easy to categorize these are anecdotal. Yet, my daughter had six years of nearly zero TV, nearly zero amounts of sugar, and was on an amazing sleep schedule that worked great. All of these were a constant in her life (as it was basically just her and I for the first 6.5 years).
I would like to believe sugar does not harm or effect my daughter negatively. It would be nice to read evidence shows it is not that big of a deal. Regardless of the studies that say it does not affect children, that seems counter intuitive. Studies show how sugar negatively affects, gut health, sleep, teeth, energy, mental health, diabetes (which I did not even touch on), and on and on. How much sugar do American eat in a year? In 1970 it was 123 lbs. Today it is 152 lbs. in a year (Microsoft Word – How Much Sugar Do You Eat.doc (nh.gov)).
The number one killer in America is Heart Disease and Stroke (The number one killer of Americans: heart disease | BU Today | Boston University). What’s the cause of heart disease? Fat clogging the arteries (Cardiovascular disease: Types, symptoms, prevention, and causes (medicalnewstoday.com)). What the number one cause of fat clogging the arteries? Poor diet (“Avoid overindulging on ice cream, whole milk, butter, sour cream, cream cheese, egg yolks, fatty meats, fast food, fried chicken, breaded chicken or fish, pastries, and chips” What Causes Clogged Arteries | Health.com).
Maybe, sugar is not affecting little Tommy or Sally between 8am-3pm (I don’t think this is possible, or likely to be true… but if…), what is it doing to them for the entirety of their lives? How is it affecting sleep, moods, teeth, overall health? We have fun with kids as kids, and enjoy playing with them while they are young. We feed them sugar and treats and make exceptions and excuses to let them eat poorly. We do not tend to think of them suffering at 70, because of the foundation we laid for them from birth to 18.
Posted. Not Perfect.
A Vegan Father, navigating a non-vegan world.
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