“There is nothing better than a friend unless it is a friend with chocolate.” – Charles Dickens If you ask children what they like to eat, many will say chocolate. Chocolate for kids is a delicious treat that they happily gobble down. Be it a chocolate bar or a cup of hot chocolate, most children love relishing chocolate in every form possible. They love it so much that the market is flooding with chocolate-flavored foods and beverages, attracting children and adults alike. If your child is a chocolate lover, they would love to know more about the world of chocolate, including its origin. So, feed their curiosity with some interesting and fun facts about chocolate shared in this post. This post offers insight into the world of chocolate, the types of chocolates, their benefits and side effects, and healthy alternatives.
Where Does Chocolate Come From?
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, which are fermented, dried, and roasted cacao seeds, or seeds of the cacao plant. The seeds from the cacao pods are carefully removed and left exposed to light to let them ferment for around nine days or less. Once that is done, they are dried for a week or two under the hot sun, then roasted and blended to make the cocoa powder that is used for making chocolate.
The history of chocolate is long and goes back to thousands of years. The first known use of chocolate was in 1900 BC, more than 3,500 years before Nestle set up his chocolate manufacturing unit. Only at that time, it was not called chocolate.
Archeological findings suggest civilizations that flourished in Mesoamerica, during the Early Formation period, may have used the bittersweet beans from the cacao trees in their beverages. The findings suggest that people knew how to make chocolate from the cacao seeds way back in 1700 BC (1). Evidence found in the vessels used by these civilizations proves that people often used chocolate in their drinks, possibly fermented.
The Mayans and the Aztecs may also have used cacao seeds in some important rituals. They made a drink with it and called it ‘chocolatl’. They considered the seeds so precious that they may have been used as currency for trade, while the drink made from it was considered the ‘food of Gods’. Only the wealthy Mayans who had enough cacao seeds to spare enjoyed the drink.
Chocolate found its way into Europe when Columbus brought cacao seeds back with him to Spain, and presented them as a treasure to King Ferdinand. Two centuries later, an Englishman called Joseph Fry made the first solid chocolate. About 25 years after that, Henri Nestle made the first chocolate bar using condensed milk. And the rest, as they say, is history!
Fun Chocolate Facts For Kids
Here are some really interesting facts about chocolate for kids.
Interesting Information About Chocolate For Kids
Fun facts aside, here is some really interesting information about chocolate and its production. Your children would love to know about it. Harvesting cacao is an ardent task and labor-intensive. Fair Trade practices are implemented to help cocoa farmers around the world get a better price for their product and make cocoa farming sustainable. Global brands like Cadbury, M&S, Divine Chocolate, RAWR, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Zotter chocolate are a few that encourage Fair Trade chocolate production.
Types Of Chocolate
Chocolate is loved in any form, shape, and concentration. But if you want to get into the details of the different varieties of chocolate, maybe for your child’s class essay on chocolate for kids, keep reading.
Bittersweet chocolate contains raw chocolate, cocoa butter, and sugar in specific quantities to give a bitter and sweet taste in every bite. Dark chocolate is a type of bittersweet chocolate, also called semisweet chocolate.
Technically, white chocolate is not chocolate as it does not contain cocoa, but it contains milk solids and sugar.
Cacao powder is the powder of the cacao beans, minus the shell. It is used to make chocolate milk or hot cocoa drink. It contains around 20% of fat from cacao butter.
Chocolate liqueur is a smooth chocolate liquid, without alcohol. It is made by grinding the cacao beans into a smooth paste and contains over 50% cacao butter.
Unsweetened chocolate is pure chocolate made by hardening chocolate liqueur and is often used in baking. It is also known as baking chocolate, pure chocolate or bitter chocolate.
Ground chocolate is simply sweet chocolate powder, made by pounding a bar of chocolate. It is not to be confused with cacao powder.
Chocolate Milk For Kids
Besides nibbling on a bar of milk chocolate, kids also enjoy sipping a glass of hot or cold chocolate milk from time to time. If your little girl or boy enjoys drinking chocolate overeating it, here is something you should know about it. Is chocolate milk good for a kid? Yes, it is healthy, unless your child is lactose intolerant. Milk with chocolate powder is a great replacement for plain milk, as it has several nutrients that the kids need. Use raw, unsweetened cacao powder, which is healthier than using commercial chocolate powders. Also, chocolate milk has less added sugar compared to other flavored milk drinks. What’s more, chocolate milk is a healthier, tastier replacement to sweetened beverages and sodas that add a lot of empty calories leading to weight gain. Here is even better news: chocolate milk has 16 essential nutrients including proteins, vitamin A, B12, B6 and D, calcium, riboflavin, niacin, phosphorous, zinc, selenium, magnesium and folate among others. So the next time your child wants a drink, you know chocolate milk is the answer.
Is Chocolate Healthy For Kids?
Children love chocolate in any form: bar, drink, melted, frosted and even powdered. In fact, kids love them so much that you can bribe them with chocolates. That said, should kids be eating chocolate every day? Is chocolate milk for kids a good idea? Well, the jury is out: Chocolate is not bad. In fact, it has several health benefits, when consumed in moderation. Here are some. Dark chocolate is healthier than other forms of chocolate, as it has lesser amounts of sugar, milk and other additives.
How Can Chocolate Go Wrong With Kids?
Any food, when taken in excess quantities, is not ideal for the body. Chocolate is no different. Kids eating chocolate a few times a week is normal.
A piece of dark chocolate or a glass of hot cocoa with no added sugar, once every day, can be good for health. But eating too much chocolate all the time can result in weight gain, especially considering the sugar and fat that an average bar of chocolate contains.
Excessive intake of chocolate also triggers severe and persistent headaches. Hence, children with migraines should restrict the consumption of chocolate in large doses. As chocolate contains a percentage of caffeine and sugar, these products often trigger the condition of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in children.
An average milk chocolate bar has over six teaspoons of sugar, the maximum sugar children should get in a day (5). The limit includes the sugar that a toddler gets from different food sources such as vegetables, fruits, grains, and milk. Eating a bar of chocolate every day could lead to excess sugar in the body, resulting in weight gain and other health complications.
A recent study showed that just 6.7g of dark chocolate can help adults stay healthy (6). However, there is no similar research for kids. That said, letting your children eat a bar of chocolate (approximately 50g) can increase their daily intake of sugar and fat, which can have adverse effects on their health in the long term.
You can limit your child from eating chocolate by making the right choices.
Healthy Chocolate Options For Kids
Chocolates come in myriad forms and varieties. Dark chocolate is the healthier option because it contains cocoa and less sugar, fat or milk. However, few kids like dark chocolate, because of its bitter taste. Most of them like the commonly available milk chocolates, which have a lot of sugar and fat. Some chocolates even contain caffeine that can affect your child’s moods. Read labels on the chocolate hampers to ensure it does not have any caffeine. To choose the right kind of chocolate, in the right amounts for your child, remember these tips.
Look for chocolates with low fats, sugar or milk.
Chocolate-flavored nuts are a healthier option when compared to plain milk chocolate. However, chocolates with nuts can be harmful if your child has allergies.
Buy chocolates with little caffeine and no trans fat.
Buy smaller bars of chocolate to limit sugar and fat intake.
You can also get chocolate through chocolate-flavored biscuits, cakes, and ice creams. But, these foods have more sugar and fat when compared to a bar of chocolate.
Avoid using chocolate as a bribe or a reward to get your child to do something.
