Daily Mail

Sickening truth about how much sugar children are eating: We asked three girls to keep a food diary, the results horrified their mums

• Studies show children and teenagers consume more sugar than they should
• FEMAIL asked three mums to help their daughters keep a food diary for a week
• Jessica, 12, consumed 490g sugar weekly, the recommended allowance is 210g
• Jessica's mum Claire Lilley, 43, vowed to avoid processed foods to lower intake
• A dietitian revealed the seemingly healthy foods that are filled with sugar  
• Sugary treats lie at the heart of family time these days. From after-school snacks to birthday parties with lots of chocolate, biscuits and sweets, sugar is loaded with messages of reward and enjoyment.
  Add to that the hidden sugars in convenience foods and the treats children choose for themselves at school, and even parents with the best of intentions will find it hard to monitor just how much of the sweet stuff their children eat. 
  According to a recent survey, children aged four to ten consume twice as much sugar as they should — equivalent to 20 chocolate chip cookies a day. Teenagers, meanwhile, eat three times as much as they ought. Children aged seven to ten years should eat no more than 24g (equivalent to six sugar cubes) of added sugar a day and over-11s are limited to 30g (seven cubes).
  We asked three mums to help their daughters keep an honest sugar diary for just a week, and dietitian Tanya Thomas to asses them. The results are startling. Is it time you asked yourself just how much sugar YOUR child or grandchild is eating…?