The ‘Sweet’ Life: Taking The Sugar Swap Challenge
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There’s been a lot of talk about sugar lately, and for good reason—eating too much sugar is linked to tooth decay, body fat, heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
I grew up on a diet of sugar. We had sugary cereals for breakfast every day—the equivalent of 21 sugar cubes a week, or 84 sugar cubes a month. That’s over 4kg a year from cereal alone!
Now that I’m a mother, I’m very conscious of what my children are eating, and most of the time I think I do a pretty good job giving them nutritious and healthy food, but sometimes making the right choices can be confusing.
I mean, we all know that soft drinks, lollies and cakes are full of sugar…but what about muesli bars or energy drinks? They’re healthy, right? Not so much. They can be chock full of added sugar.
Looking more closely at labels, I’ve discovered that some of the delicious snacks I’ve been packing for my kids’ morning tea may as well be junk food.
Amanda’s daughters Sophia and Liv.
My eldest daughter has an incredibly sweet tooth, and I’ve been indulging this by providing her (and her sister) with a daily ‘healthy’ sweet treat…but I can see that it’s becoming a habit which isn’t the best for them . If a day goes past without ‘dessert’ of some kind, there’s a revolt in our house—so for the next four weeks, our family is taking the ‘Sugar Swap Challenge’, where we’ll be ‘swapping out’ sugary drinks, sugary snacks and sugary cereals.
We’re going to be drinking water instead of soft drink (I have a Diet Cola problem—no, it doesn’t contain sugar, but some studies have linked it with weight gain and risk of type 2 diabetes.) We’ll also be having healthier snacks (no more ‘lolly stops’ at the supermarket after school); and finding a healthier alternative to the kids’ breakfast cereal. I’m hoping it will help us build good habits for life.
Of course you don’t have to ‘swap out’ all your sugary drinks, snacks and cereals to take part in the challenge. It’s fine to start by swapping out just one thing, like snacks for example.
I’ll be sharing my family’s progress via Instagram and wrapping up how we went at the end of the Challenge. Over the next four weeks, we’ll also be sharing articles which will give you all the tools you need to serve up healthier meals and snacks that are low in added sugar. Other useful information will also be available via the Good Habits website below.
Want to join me? Sign up at www.act.gov.au/goodhabitsforlife
10 simple sugar swaps
- Swap sugary or chocolate cereal for porridge with low fat milk and banana, or boiled egg with wholegrain toast.
- Swap a chocolate bar for low fat, natural yoghurt with fruit
- Swap choc chip muffins for apple and berry pikelets
- Swap mini chocolate biscuits for low fat cheese with grain crackers
- Swap an orange fruit drink for cut up orange pieces or low fat milk
- Swap fruit rollies for cut up fruit pieces
- Swap soft drink for water
- Swap muesli bars for air popped pop corn
- Swap choc chip cookies for grapes
- Swap lollies for veggie sticks with dip
To sign up for the Sugar Swap Challenge visit www.act.gov.au/goodhabitsforlife
Once signed up, your family will receive a free Sugar Swap Challenge Starter Kit to help get you started and a cookbook full of delicious and easy recipes to try.
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