Like cholesterol, triglycerides are a form of fat in the bloodstream that can be harmful if too-high amounts accumulate in the body. As the prevalence of childhood obesity increases, increasing numbers of children are being diagnosed with high triglyceride levels, according to Boulder Medical Center. One of the contributing factors associated with high triglyceride levels in children is increased intake of sugary foods. Understanding how sugar intake can affect your child can help you to take steps to keep triglyceride levels low.
Diagnosis
Although triglyceride testing is not typically performed in children, your physician may recommend triglycerides testing if your child has risk factors associated with high triglycerides. These include obesity or having a family history of atherosclerosis, or artery narrowing, which is a common side effect of high triglycerides. If your child is under the age of 21 and experiences triglyceride levels higher than 125, your child’s physician may diagnose her with having high triglycerides.
Significance
Sugary foods in your child’s diet can contribute to high triglyceride levels because of how your child’s body stores carbohydrates. When your child eats a sugar-containing food, the body uses a portion of the sugars for energy, if the cells need it. Then, the body stores a remaining portion of the sugars as glycogen, a stored form of energy in the body. Finally, if both these options have been used, your child’s body converts the remaining sugars into triglycerides in the blood. High triglyceride levels have been associated with both heart disease and high cholesterol levels, according to Children’s Hospital Boston.
Incidence
In a research review published in the 2010 “Journal of the American Dietetic Association,” researchers found that more than 40 percent of an adolescent's or child’s diet comes from empty calories, according to MedPage Today. The highest sources of empty calories were found to be grain desserts, pizza and soda -- all of which can be high in sugar. Not only can these eating habits affect your child’s triglyceride levels, they also can affect his diet for the rest of his life.
Solution
Always consult your physician before making changes to your child’s diet. However, some general steps to take can include reading food labels carefully for words such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, corn syrup, maltose, honey, molasses or high-fructose corn syrup. Sugar-containing foods should not constitute more than 8 percent of your child’s diet. This means you may need to eliminate your child’s intake of foods such as cookies, cakes, candies, pastries, pies and granola bars, which can all contain high amounts of sugar. Instead of these selections, you can substitute sweetened beverages for water and 100 percent fruit juices and candies for fresh fruit.
References
- Cleveland Clinic; How Foods Affect Triglycerides; 2011
- MedPage Today; Kids Have Taste for Fats and Sugars; Kristina Fiore; October 2010
- Children's Hospital Boston: LDL, HDL & Triglycerides -- Overview
- Boulder Medical Center; Cholesterol & Triglycerides in Children; Thomas Higgins, M.D.; 2010
- Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh; Cholesterol, LDL, HDL and Triglycerides; February 2008
