As millions of kids gorge themselves with gooey chocolate and other sweets this weekend, doctors and dieticians are sounding an alarm about sugar and its link to the 21st century epidemic of fatter, unhealthier American kids.Halloween is emblematic of the problem with children’s sugar-saturated diets, said Paula Quatromoni, associate professor of nutrition at Boston University and an advocate for the American Heart Association.

“It’s one more opportunity to have excess,” she said. “It’s not enough to give out mini-candy bars. People give out full-sized candy bars and that’s what kids want to bring in their lunch box the next day at school.”

Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association, said they encourage parents to divy out candy over several weeks, and not overindulge.

“We would never suggest anybody eat a pumpkin full of candy,” she said, adding that a federal survey shows candy makes up only about 2 percent of calories in Americans’ diets.

The obesity epidemic spurred the American Heart Association to issue new sugar guidelines this summer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 percent of kids ages 6 to 11 are overweight. About 34 percent of adults are considered obese.

The big culprit in the obesity epidemic is sugary drinks, said Dr. David Ludwig, who runs the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children’s Hospital Boston and recently co-authored an article in the New England Journal of Medicine calling for a sugar drink tax of a penny an ounce.

“Virtually no other category of food has as strong a link to weight gain as does sugar-sweetened beverages,” Ludwig said. “It’s a recipe for weight gain.”

Dr. Daniel Glaze, a professor of pediatrics and neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, blames the sugar-fueled obesity epidemic for an increase in kids with diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea, a dangerous condition that affects a child’s concentration and energy during the day.

“It’s a terrible situation,” said Glaze, medical director of Sleep Center at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. “It impacts the quality of life and health of child. It means they are going to multiple physicians to take care of diabetes, hypertension, sleep apena. It increases the cost of medicine.”

jfargen@bostonherald.com

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