How Old Can Children Eat Chocolate? Check The Answer Here

Illustration of children eating chocolate (photo: Pexels/Pixabay)

YOGYAKARTA Chocolate is one of many people's favorite snacks, including children. The question is, how old can children eat chocolate?

Chocolate is a food product made from cocoa beans. Chocolate in the form of snacks is generally minimal in nutrients and high in sugar, salt, and fat.

Cocoa beans originating from cocoa trees are usually processed into two types of chocolate, black chocolate and chocolate milk. Of these two types of chocolate, black chocolate (dark chocolate) is considered healthier because it can provide many benefits. Such as keeping the mood good, improving brain function, and preventing various chronic diseases.

However, this benefit can only be obtained by adults. Until now there is no clinical evidence that mentions that chocolate has benefits for children.

Originally, there was no definite age reference for introducing chocolate to children. However, this snack should not be given to children under 2 years old.

This recommendation is not without reason. Chocolate is one type of snack that contains artificial sweeteners.

Eating excessive sweet snacks can increase various health risks, such as tooth damage and obesity in children.

In addition, the caffeine content in chocolate can also lead to various health problems if consumed in excess amounts. Symptoms and effects that can occur include:

Symptoms and these effects can disrupt the child's growth and development process, including the learning process and the stability of his emotions.

On the other hand, children under two years of age also don't have a digestive system that is good enough to process caffeine and artificial sweeteners in chocolate, driven by Mom Junction.

Children are only allowed to eat chocolate after the age of 2. However, with a record that children are not experiencing digestive disorders and should not overeat chocolate.

The amount of sugar content allowed for children aged 2 years and over is less than 25 grams or about 6 tablespoons of tea.

There are various health problems that have the potential to arise if children eat chocolate too often, including:

This is information about the age of children being allowed to eat chocolate. Hopefully this article can increase readers' insight every VOI.ID.