Remember I blogged about my period going MIA not long ago? I got a negative result on both pregnancy tester provided in the home pregnancy test kit.

But I wasn’t convinced with the result and I thought I was pregnant as I had pregnancy symptoms. For peace of mind, I decided to go to the doctor to confirm it with me. It’s a good thing that I decided to check it twice, because if a woman is not pregnant and she’s not in menopausal phase of her life, any irregularities in her menstrual cycle can be dangerous. They usually mean hormonal imbalance, ectopic pregnancy or fibroids, which is deadly for a woman.

I may sound paranoid to most, but there’s no harm in checking things twice as sometimes, it saves lives.

I implement the ‘checking it twice’ habit in various expects of my lives, including when it comes to choosing growing up milk for my boy. You see, most growing up milk powder contains excessive added sugar, which is absolutely not good for growing up children.

Take a look at the video above. It’s similar to the one that I saw in Hospital Danau Kota’s waiting room (refer to my previous post HERE: https://cleffairy.com/?p=6439).

According to the video interview above with Professor Peter Davies (a member of Key opinion Leaders), it is recommended by The World Health Organization (WHO)  that we should keep added sugar intakes to less than 10 per cent of our total calorie intake.

It is reasonable recommendation, I must say as young children, particularly those ageing 2 to 3 years old and above only needs about 150 kcal or less than 7 teaspoons per day maximum.

Yes, children do not actually need much sugar in their diet while they are growing up. Whoever claims that children needs alot of sweets and sugar in their diet is a big liar. It’s definitely a myth that children needs alot of sugar in their daily diet.

But then again, feeding them excessive sugar can sometimes be unavoidable, as most growing up powder in the market contains a lot of added sugar. 🙁 Trust me. I know so because I’ve tried many growing up milk samples that’s given to me, and most of them taste rather sweet. Artificially sweet, I must say. I’m not lying. If you don’t believe me, you can try taste your children’s growing up milk like me too. Try it, and I daresay that most of them taste very sweet, and it is important to note that growing up milk are not supposed to taste sweet. Ask any paediatrician and they will tell you the same thing: growing up milk are not supposed to taste too sweet like chocolate milk or honeyed milk.

I am very particular when it comes to choosing growing up milk for my son as he’s an ADHD child, so it’s really tricky for me to choose a growing up milk that does not contain any added sugars. I can’t afford my son getting sugar rush as he’ll get hyper and rather uncontrollable, which is very dangerous as he’ll jump up and down, even when I told him not to do so. Once his sugar level is higher than it’s supposed to be, his concentration will go AWOL too.

I’ve been called many names. Cruel and controlling mother tops the list. Why? Because people have this perception that children should be given sweet things, and I happen to be strict in that department, especially growing up milk.

I know alot of modern parents are placed in an awkward predicament like me where sometimes the in laws interfere with parenting and says something like “Why don’t you allow your kids take milk with added sugars or Milo in it? It taste much nicer and they’ll definitely finish the whole glass faster”. Good God, as if added sugars in most growing up milk is not bad enough! Such statement is really horrifying.

Some growing up milk already had added sugars in in it if we’re not careful, we could be feeding our children sugar more than they needed. Parents should be firm when it comes to providing growing up milk to their children. Choose those with no added sugars in it, and remember to be firm with your stand as excessive added sugars will do more harm than good to your children’s body.

It is important for parents to read labels on children’s food products. When buying growing up milk, it’s important to look for the presence of these added sugars and not just look at the expiry date.

If an added sugar name appears near the top of the ingredient list, or there are more than one name present, then it’s a good indication that the food has high contents of added sugars.

If you’re a smart mummy and daddy and wants the best for your children, you should opt for foods and beverages labelled “no added sugars” or “less sugars” or “sugar free” on the packaging.

But be really careful, though, as sometimes sugar contents could still be there  in these children food products. Take this for an example: a product claiming “no added sucrose” or “sucrose free” could still contain other types of added sugars. If you see  ‘”no sucrose” but the label says that the products contains corn syrup solids or glucose syrup solids, then the product in question still contains added sugars.

So again, I’d like to say, be extra, extra careful. It can be rather tricky, I know, but I assure you that it’s worth spending our time checking the label twice or more before buying any food products for our children in the long run as it concerns their health in general.

It is important to  use a no added sugar products, especially no added sugar growing up milk. Growing up milk powder are supposed to be all about good nutrition for growing children, not added sugars that could increase the risk of various medical problems like obesity and diabetes(and extreme hyperactivity in ADHD children’s case)

I also saw something interesting in the Star newspaper a few weeks back. It was an advert from the Ministry of Health about their sugar reduction campaign they started last year… you know the one… telling us we should all eat a little less sugar. Anyway, it mentioned that added sugars can have many different names, such as corn syrup solids, sucrose and glucose syrup solids. And also that we need to be aware of claims made on packaging about specific types of sugar s of added sugars in these products such as products claiming “no added sucrose” or “sucrose free”; it could still contain other types of added sugars.

These two things got me thinking… since the Ministry of Health already said that corn syrup solids, sucrose and glucose syrup solids are added sugars, it is still quite amazing (not in a good way) how some children’s milk such as Mamil and Enfa can still included so much of these added sugars in their formulations. Why? Are they trying to make hyperactive children like my boy even more hyper, not to mention it is unhealthy for children to partake so much added sugars? Since the MOH also said that “no sucrose” doesn’t mean there isn’t any “added sugars”, I think it is even more important to read the ingredient label even more closely to check if there are other types of added sugars. I noticed Mamil Gold has a “no sucrose” claim on their packaging. I guess it is time for me to go check the ingredient label out although I think Anmum Essential is still best suited for my child as it contains no added sugars.

So, mummies and daddies out there, what growing up milk did you give your children? Is the content beneficial to your children? Does it contain any added sugars in it? Do check the label and let me know if your kids’ growing up milk contains any added sugars in it or not.

I’d be pleased if you share what growing up milk you feed your children with, and your opinions in regards to choosing growing up milk for your children. To me, what matters most is that I nurture my child with something that doesn’t do harm to his body in the long run. How about you? What’s important for you when you choose growing up milk powder for your children?

Anyway, as far as I’m concern, Anmum Essential is the only growing up milk powder with no added sugars in the market so far, and I intend to continue using that for my boy, considering that he’s okay with the milk and all that too.

Cleffairy: Remember, folks, it is important to make an informed decision when we buy growing up milk for our children. Sweetness comes in many forms, but it shouldn’t come in the form of growing up milk powder.