Beat the Sweets: Easy Ways to Cut Down on Sugar

It’s safe to say that many aspects of parenthood have surprised me. I didn’t expect that I’d happy trade my designer handbags for worn cargo pants or shamelessly pad around in flip flops for nine months out of the year. Another aspect of parental culture shock is diet-related. Because I’ve always embraced a balanced diet, I naively assumed my offspring would too. Instead, I spend my days playing Sugar Police, doling out delicacies in dribs and drabs while I balance out the goodies with “growing food.”

As a health-conscious parent, I don’t have a choice about my role as a sugar-regulator—the stuff is literally everywhere my kids turn, screaming out to them with neon-bright colors, pretty packaging, and familiar characters. Sometimes it seems that I’m the only thing standing between my school-age daughter and a tidal wave of sugar, in the form of soda, cookies, pancake syrup, or the steady stream of treats that seems to come her way at school.

But I’m a firm advocate of balance. That means, as you’ll see in my article Beat the Sweets in this month’s issue of Auburn Opelika Parents magazine, that even cupcakes aren’t off-limits. Or the occasional lollipop (stashed for emergencies only, of course). Whew!

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