The dangers of consuming artificial sweeteners for children's health

Candy, cake, soft drink , jelly, and boxed milk are some of the most popular snacks for kids. However, all of these snacks also have another similarity: they contain artificial sweeteners. Although it is permissible, there are consumption limits that must be adhered to so that artificial sweeteners do not pose a danger to children's health.

Get to know artificial sweeteners and their advantages

Artificial sweeteners are synthetic ingredients that are used to replace sugar. Although closely related to the terms "synthetic" and "artificial", the sweeteners that are found in many packaged products are usually made from natural ingredients, including granulated sugar.

Sugar will go through a series of chemical processes before becoming an artificial sweetener. The end result of this process is an artificial sweetener whose sweetness level can reach 600 times that of its raw material.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of six types of artificial sweeteners, namely saccharin, acesulfam, aspartame, neotam, sucralose, and stevia. Among all these sweeteners, sucralose is the most commonly used.

The use of artificial sweeteners is currently considered not to pose a danger to children's health. The reason is, artificial sweeteners are not sugar or carbohydrates which have a bad impact if consumed in large quantities.

Artificial sweeteners also have several advantages over sugar, including:

Does not cause obesity because it contains no calories.
Does not cause cavities.
Safe for diabetics because it does not increase blood sugar levels.

Are there any long-term dangers of artificial sweeteners to children?

Artificial sweeteners are often used in products labeled "diet" or "sugar-free". Given that only zero calories, products containing artificial sweeteners are also believed to help you lose weight.

However, research in journals Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry shows the opposite result. Children who were given artificial sweeteners had higher blood sucralose plasma levels than adults.

Although there is no direct danger to health, high sucralose plasma due to consumption of artificial sweeteners will survive in the child's body. This is because the child's kidneys have not been able to get rid of excess substances effectively.

The high consumption of artificial sweeteners in children can then affect their appetite as adults. As they grow, children who are often exposed to foods containing artificial sweeteners will usually continue to eat them.

They tend to eat more sweets as they grow older. Apart from the fact that their taste buds are accustomed to sweetness, they also eat other sweet foods because they think artificial sweeteners do not lead to obesity.

Sugary foods that do not use artificial sweeteners usually contain excess calories. Over time, excess calorie intake from sugary foods can increase your risk of obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders-related diseases.

The dangers of artificial sweeteners may not be immediately apparent to children. In fact, the consumption of artificial sweeteners in large quantities can affect a child's diet. Children are also at risk of experiencing various health problems in the future.

To protect children from these dangers, parents can provide alternative sweeteners that are safer. For example, sugar, brown sugar , honey, or syrup maple . Also limit their intake so that children are trained not to over-eat them.