• Question: Why do you think that parents belive that sugar makes their children hyper when many test results prove that it is the environment that the child is in?

    Asked by shrimpyking to Andrew, Emma, Marianne on 14 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Andrew Maynard

      Andrew Maynard answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi shrimpyking,

      Interesting question. I’m no expert here, but flicking through research from the last twenty years or so indicates that sugar does not make normal healthy children hyper – as you would expect, because the body regulates blood sugar levels very closely. But it’s very common for ideas and beliefs to become ingrained in society that aren’t backed up with hard evidence – and this looks like one of them.

      Why is this? That’s a huge area of study. But part of the answer I think is that people are programmed to take short-cuts in their thinking, and to try and make sense of patterns that they see. The short-cuts are necessary, as our brains couldn’t process all the stuff they are exposed to without them. And the pattern-recognition is a pretty essential part of our evolutionary heritage. But it means that if a child becomes unruly and has recently had something sugary to eat, there is a tendency to link the two, whether the link is valid or not (that’s the pattern recognition). Then because we take short-cuts in the way we analyze things, it becomes possible for this “link” to propagate from one person to another – the idea begins to spread through society, despite the evidence, not because of it.

      This may not be why so many parents believe sugar makes children hyper, but it’s a hypothesis worth testing.

      I should add that, when I was a kid, we ate sweets all the time, and no-one worried about sugar and hyper behavior then…

    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi shrimpyking, that’s an interesting question actually.

      We know that the cells in the brain need glucose, for starters.
      Also as adults, if we eat a lot of sugar it tends to make us feel ill or get a bit of a ‘sugar-high’!
      I suppose parents assume that it does something funny to kids as well, if it makes them feel a bit weird. But younger people’s metabolism is higher and they also expend more energy.

      I think some parents are keen to explain away behavioural problems any way they can, which is understandable sometimes.

      It is likely that a combination of additives in processed food are going to have some adverse effects; it’s always better to eat fresh food where possible – a good, balanced diet can help with learning, behaviour, development; it’s essential really and a lot of parents don’t want to believe that, especially when life is busy and it’s easier not to bother about food.

      I think that “everything in moderation” is true! Having *no* sweets isn’t going to help, but having way too many is also a bad idea.

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Shrimpyking, you are demonstrating a healthy scepticism here. You have exploded a myth. Well-done. As to why parents believe this, who knows? It seems logical because sugar is seen as a short-term but potent energy supply and because if you get a room full of kids together at a party they are probably full of sugar from cakes and other goodies. As you say however, it may not be the case.

      Examining evidence is an important part of science. Like we talked about with the global warming story. Just because there has been a rise in the birth-rate in the year of a massive stork migration it doesn’t mean that the storks were bringing babies in…..! (no matter what your gran says)

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