KIND Bars Show the Reality of How Much Added Sugar Children Eat
You’ve probably heard that too much added sugar in your diet can harm your health. That alone is not too shocking. After all, added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods or beverages when they’re processed or prepared — not including naturally occurring sugars like those in fruits. But what is shocking is how much added sugar children in the United States consume in a short period of time.
KIND decided to show people firsthand in a way that they literally couldn’t look away from – in the form of an art installation in the middle of the iconic Times Square in New York City. In the middle of one of America’s most beloved landmarks, KIND dropped the largest depository of sugar boxes.
The pile measures three stories high and 24 feet wide. It weighs a total of 45,485 pounds — which is the same amount of added sugar that U.S. children eat every five minutes. Beyond the structure, they also built “sugar children” statues around it to represent the alarming statistic that the average 9-year-old is eating their body weight in added sugar each year.
Jarring, right? In a partnership with Morning Consult, KIND also unveiled a few other startling statistics: 79 percent of parents don’t know what added sugars are; 76 percent of parents don’t know how much added sugar their kids should limit themselves to in one day; and 77 percent of parents think their kid consumes less added sugar than the average child, yet 85 percent of parents don’t know how much added sugar the average child eats in one day.
Yikes! Now is as good a time as any to educate yourself on added sugar in the products you buy, especially if they’ve been processed or prepared before you pick them up at the store. Luckily, KIND is unveiling their new KIND Fruit Bites, the only fruit snack on the market made from just fruit and containing no added sugar.
We think that’s a great place to start!
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