What actually is sugar?

The white stuff we add to tea and cakes to make them sweet or is there more to it?

The science bit: sugar is a type of carbohydrate, and our bodies genuinely need carbohydrates for energy. After we eat, our food is broken down in to (amongst other things), glucose aka sugar. This will be used by our bodies as energy but if there’s too much sugar or if our body can’t use it, it’s simply stores as fat which can be broken down later in case we need a sugar boost. Sugar is often labelled as bad for us but its isn’t; our bodies actually need it. The problems start when we consistently consume more sugar than our bodies can use, or when our bodies struggle to process it efficiently. So the goal isn't to be scared of sugar or cut it out entirely. It's to understand roughly how much is in the foods our children eat every day, so we can make informed choices rather than guesses.

Let’s complicate it a little bit more… sugars can be broken down into natural sugar or added/free sugars. Natural sugars are found within whole foods like intact fruits, vegetables and milk, these are usually bound to beneficial fibres, vitamins and minerals. Free/added sugars are all added commercially but these also includes sugar naturally present in honey, syrups, and unsweetened fruit juices.

How Much Sugar Should My Child Have Each Day?

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) sets recommended daily maximums for free sugars in the UK:

Seeing it as "sugar cubes" rather than grams is often the more useful version for talking to kids directly, it's a lot easier for a 7-year-old to picture 6 sugar cubes than 24 grams. Another way could be to use teaspoons; 1 teaspoon is roughly 4 grams which converts to 4-5 teaspoons for 4-6 year olds, 6 teaspoons for 7-10 year olds and, 7-8 teaspoons for 11+ year olds.

The UK Sugar Tax, Explained

What has the government tried to do about sugar?

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy better known as the Sugar Tax was introduced by the UK government in 2016 to help tackle childhood obesity. It charges drinks manufacturers based on the sugar content of their products: the more sugar in a drink, the higher the charge the company pays. It was extended in 2025, which is part of why you may have noticed some full-sugar soft drinks creeping up in price at the shop.

The policy doesn't ban sugary drinks it nudges manufacturers toward reformulating recipes with less sugar, and nudges consumers toward the alternatives when the price gap becomes noticeable. It's a useful real-world example to talk through with older kids: why would the government want to make sugary drinks more expensive?

Start the Conversation at Home

The honest challenge most parents face isn't knowing these numbers; it's finding the time to actually check food labels against them or realistically judging whether a snack fits within that daily budget once you factor in everything else eaten that day.

This is exactly the gap our Sugar Detective Adventure Workbook was built for. Instead of a parent doing all the label-reading and rule-setting alone, it turns the process into something a child aged 6–10 does with you. Children will learn to investigate where sugar hides in everyday foods, learn to read labels themselves, and build the habit of asking questions rather than just being told what to eat.

Sources: GOV.UK — Soft Drinks Levy extended to protect children and improve health; British Dietetic Association — Sugar

This article is provided for general educational purposes and is not intended as individual medical or nutritional advice.