Is sugar really that bad?

At the moment sugar is the enemy, before that it was fat ... who knows what it'll be next? I really don't give a rat's behind about it. Everything in moderation. If your daughter ate only chocolate cereal, yeah, that'd be bad, as you very well know, but as it stands, she seems to be getting a balanced diet, so who cares about a bit of cereal?

I wouldn't worry if it's not ruining her appetite for other more nutritionally balanced foods. Sugary foods as a big source of calories can nudge out other nutritious foods. On the flip side, even if it doesn't crowd out other nutrients it would be the most logical thing to limit (not necessarily eliminate) if the overall food consumption is too high to the point where it causes weight gain. If she doesn't have a weight problem and is eating a nutritionally balanced diet otherwise (and is being taught proper oral hygiene), I don't see a point in agonizing over this.

Probably the only thing you need to agonize over is how much the judgy moms at daycare will look down on you. As far as real health risks? Nah

Kdp2015 wrote: »

I’ve checked NHS website and apparently sugar is bad because A too much causes weight gain and B it rots your teeth

The important two words here are "too much" ...
Too much of anything causes problems. In this regard sugar is not different to anything else.
Taking a "Too much" even water is evil ... Drowning is no fun ...

Sugar as such is a highly potent energy-carrier which is vital for your cells. All food you eat is (sooner or later) processed to sugar otherwise your cells couldn't use it.

Question is: How could something that is vital for your body be "evil"

As @vollkornbloedchen said, water is bad for you if you're drowning.

Air is bad for you if you're falling.

Soybean & brown rice casseroles are bad for you if somebody forces you to actually eat them. (Unless you find them even remotely palatable; in which case I've been informed, often quite vehemently, that they are very good for you.)

But water and air are very good for you when correctly applied in appropriate quantities, and soybean & brown rice casserole is very good when correctly applied to the compost heap.

Sugar is similar: you're not going to escape it in the modern world, and it's an appropriate part of a balanced and nutritious diet.

I grew up among hippie health nuts; hence the childhood experiences with, and present-day aversion to, soybeans & brown rice. My folks allowed sugar and some sugar cereals, but I had friends whose parents didn't. This made sugar a sought-after "forbidden fruit," and those kids would go to great lengths to eat as much sugar as they could get their hands on behind their parent's backs.

In your place I'd skip the agonizing , but calmly select whichever cereal has the least sugar from among those your daughter likes. I'd also keep some other cereal on hand, perhaps whatever you like, for days when you run out of the chocolate sugar cereal. (Running out "accidentally on purpose" every once in a while is probably okay.) That'll give her a healthier choice to make when she wants to make one.

Can I just say how nice it is to see a post about sugar that starts with an OP doing some research about eating a particular food or ingredient they might have had some concerns about, but results in drawing logical conclusions after considering context, dosage, and mitigation? It’s a refreshing change from all the posts that start with “I read on XYZ blog portraying itself as actual science that sugar is evil” .... which never ends well.