Something We Can Solve: How Much Sugar Do Kids Consume

It’s really hard to be a parent today. There is so much conflicting information out there “to do this” or “not to do that”. Challenges come in every direction, including from things that we didn’t have to deal with when we were growing up (like social media, easy and endless access to video games, etc.). 

Yet, through all of this, at the end of the day, we all want to be good parents. To give our children a loving, healthy foundation from which they can grow into confident, productive, happy adults. 

Since we can’t solve all the pressing issues this moment, we’re going to help address a concern that does have concrete, scientific, fact-based information that we can use to guide us starting today: 

How much sugar should our kids consume? 

The facts about sugar in kids’ diets

Let’s start with some facts:

• According to HealthyChildren.org from the American Academy of Pediatrics, sugar makes up 17% of what American kids consume each day. (1)
• The American Heart Association states that American children consume about 81 grams of sugar per day, equaling over 65 pounds of sugar per year. (2)
• Too much sugar can lead children to a lifetime of health issues, including obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes (not to mention tooth decay).
• According to the American Journal of Public Health, half of children aren’t as hydrated as they should be. (3) Water is the best source of kids’ hydration. However, children are often given drinks, other than water, supposedly designed for them but can include sugar like kids’ water, kids’ juice, kids’ drink boxes, and kids’ drink mixes.

Reducing sugary beverages is an easy place to reduce sugar

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends that children have no more than 30 to 35 grams of sugar per day. (4) Many pediatricians say the easiest place to reduce sugar in children’s diets is by decreasing or eliminating high sugar beverages. Some of these high sugar beverages are easy to spot – Coca Cola, Pepsi, Sprite and any other soda are instantly recognized as having too much sugar. However, did you know that many 100% natural juices and juice drinks have the same or, sometimes even more, sugar than soda? 

Compare sugar content of popular sodas and juices for yourself

Sugar content in drinks we think are good for our kids

Surprisingly, sometimes sugar is hiding in plain sight in beverages that we think of as being good for our kids. Ready to drink fruit smoothies offer the allure of good-for-you fruit, added nutrients, and many are labelled with the claim “No sugar added”. However, often these drinks have high sugar content without any of the added benefits of the actual fruit. For example, unlike when you eat an apple, which also has naturally occurring sugar, the fiber you get when eating an apple slows digestion down, making it easier for your body to handle the sugar found in an apple. There is either no fiber or very limited fiber compared to the sugar load in a ready-to-drink smoothie.

True Lemon Kids: A lower sugar alternative

We’re not purists at True Citrus. We don’t believe that children should never have juice or soda. However, we do think the evidence is clear that regular and frequent juice and soda consumption by kids can be counter-productive to their good health, and too much of either can definitely have an adverse impact.

True Citrus is a company dedicated to creating unsweetened and low sugar drink mix and water enhancer options, using simple, Non GMO ingredients, to help families meet their hydration goals. As part of our ongoing efforts to create new, good-for-you beverage choices, we're pleased to introduce True Lemon Kids, a solution for parents who are looking to reduce their kids’ sugar intake, specifically sugar intake from beverages.

True Lemon Kids comes in several delicious flavors that kids love: including Blueberry Raspberry, Fruit Punch and Pink Lemonade. While kids love the delicious taste, parents feel good knowing that, like all True Citrus drink mixes, True Lemon Kids has NO artificial sweeteners, no artificial flavors and no artificial preservatives. Colors are from fruits and vegetables, not artificial colors like Red 40 Dye or Blue 1 Dye.  

Each 8 oz. serving of True Lemon Kids has 10 calories, 25% of a child’s daily Vitamin A, C and E, and is gluten free and salt free. Most exciting, each 8 oz. serving is sweetened with Stevia and 2 grams of sugar, making it have 92% less sugar than many popular sodas, juices and ready to drink smoothies.

Compare for yourself: True Lemon Kids and other popular kids drinks

You can see for yourself that True Lemon Kids has much less sugar than many popular kids’ beverages.

True Lemon Kids: Delicious hydration your kids will love and you’ll feel good about

Each box of True Lemon Kids has 10 convenient, on-the-go stick packets that flavor 8 oz. of water deliciously. Thus, if you switch out just one juice or soda a day for True Lemon Kids, not only will you have an immediate impact on the amount of sugar your child will consume but you’ll also help ensure that your child drinks more water (which is great for kids who get bored with plain water or kids who don’t drink enough water and aren’t getting proper hydration throughout their day). 

True Lemon Kids is available in Walmart stores nationally as well as on TrueCitrus.com