Extra calories from sugar not only will cause overweight, but also can spoil kids tooth. Sugar is great nutritional component for bacteria. Best method is to not accustom kids to sweet taste.
If you like sweet tea or coffee, try to limit this habit. F.e. if you sweeten your drink with 3 spoons, try by next week to put only 2 spoons and in next week only 1 till moment when you will not need at all. Even can happen that after 3-4 days you will become accommodated to new taste without sugar.
Next trick can be using to sweeten honey or sweeteners.
Honey. 1 spoon of honey it is 16 calories, but honey is really rich in nutritional ingredients. It contains vitamins: C, from B group and pro-vitamin A, minerals: potassium, iron, malic acid, citric acid, lactic acid, enzymes: antibacterial lysozyme. To maintain the nutritional properties always add honey to cool tea or coffee. Honey crystallization is natural process! Never warm up honey, because will loose vitamins, enzymes and minerals and will be only sweet.
Sweeteners. Sweeteners are chemicals which are very sweet without nutritive values. They are commonly added to sweeten drinks, can be found in light products and in chewing gums. Also can be used by diabetics. Sweeteners are shared on two types: half-synthetic and synthetic.
In synthetic sweeteners are present: Aspartame and Acesulfame K. They have high power of sweetening and enough is to add only little to have desired taste.
Aspartame- can’t be warmed up above 100^C, because will produce harmful substances and will give metallic taste. Pregnant women and people with phenyloketonuria can’t use this sweetener. Aspartame is made up of two amino acids: phenyloalanine and aspartic acid.
Half-synthetic sweeteners are: sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol.
Aggregating best idea is to avoid sweetening or limit this habits. Better to not use low caloric sweeteners, even they are admitted in markets. This problem gives many doubts and we can’t predict long-term results.