There was so much hoo-haa a couple of months back when we finally realise that our Malaysian schoolchildren are mostly obese. It is like we suddenly open our eyes and see ‘OMG, fat kids, unhealthy kids, what to do, what to do!’.
Sad fact is, the children are mostly overweight and many are obese. There are so many factors causing our kids to be overweight and eventually lead to other problems later in their lives.
The headlines in the newspapers are good wake-up call for us parents to take charge of our kids’ health and making sure that we know what we are feeding to our kids. It is time we take the trouble to be more informed.
After some reading, I found that added sugars in our children growing up milk is one factor. Although it is good for kids to have some sugar for energy, excessive sugar intake is the issue/problem.
If you do not believe me, try to get a taste of your child’s milk. You will find that it is pleasant on the tastebuds because it is loaded with all kinds of sugar, both natural and added sugars. For example, if you check your child’s milk label for sugar, you are definitely going to find Corn Syrup Solids, Glucose Syrup Solids, Sucrose and other names in there.
The other thing to observe is the carbo. Find the number for ‘carbohydrate per serve’ in the NIP. Remember anything higher than 11g-12 g is added sugars. I guess for some of us with older children, the damage has been done. We have fed them too much added sugars hidden in growing up milk.
But for those of you with younger children who are still relying on growing up milk, be the informed parents. Find out now before it is too late.
Remember that milk is good for our kids and they do need all the nutrients found in milk. But we mustn’t be ignorant and continue giving them excessive sugar to the extent that they put on weight due till the level of obesity.
Conclusion is, we cannot just blame nasi lemak as the source of our Malaysian children obesity. We have to take action to make sure that our children have enough exercise, eat moderately and as parents, we have to be responsible in finding out what our children are taking.
Thanks for the alert. I agree very much that growing up milk is way too sweet. That’s why I’ve stopped giving my boy since he turned 2.5yo. I breastfed him till he was 2. Now, I just give him normal fresh milk (not full cream or low fat).
I was not aware there is sugar in fresh milk! Must be milk powder or condensed milk. Be cautious of corn syrup/ corn sugar/ fruCtose (diff. from frutose)…it is not well-recognized by our digestive system and hence not well-metabolized. Unfortunately, corn sugar is what most manufacturers use as it is cheap and plentiful. On the other hand, cane sugar and gula melaka are more natural and also lower in glycemic index. We live in a country where fresh milk is cheap and easily available, even then we go for skim or 1% fat. Also be very cautious of nondairy-creamers, popular for coffee; full of fat. Always read the label!!
poison milk at China, then too much sugar, then DEHP, it is a crazy world after all.