While we’ve traditionally viewed sugar as a risk factor for obesity and cavities, new research suggests that even in children, added sugars (sugars that are not naturally occurring in a food) are associated with increased blood pressure and increased triglycerides.

Thus, eating sugar can increase kids’ future risk for heart disease!

I learned about this fact from: Kell et al, 2014. Added sugars in the diet are positively associated with diastolic blood pressure and triglycerides in children. American Journal of Clincal Nutrition, 100(1):46-52. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/100/1/46.abstract