THE SUGAR MYTH

     Until now I always believed that sugar made kids hyper.  I have been careful not to let them have too much sugar close to bed time.  "Junk" cereals  have been allowed as an afternoon snack but not first thing in the morning!  After reading chapter four I was quite surprised and still doubted the reliability of what I was reading.  I decided I would investigate myself and find what I was sure to be true!  To my embarrassment as a mother of four,  I could not find one study or hint that there was a truth to any sugar causing my kids to jump on the beds or get so wound up they could not sleep. On the contrary, I found website after website reporting on the myth that has been in my family for many years.

     Now,  when I hear something that does not sit right with me I usually do my own research and investigation and find out the facts.  However, when my oldest (now 16) was a baby and I commented at a party that he was "bouncing off the walls", a friend said  "give him another soda and he will bounce all night!"  I do remember this well and I never questioned it.  It made sense to me and I remember thinking wow why didn't I think about the fact he consumed so much sugar and this is how he is acting.  We were also at a party and all his cousins were there and now I know that he was simply excited and happy and normal.  He was not acting like a junkie as I have since believed.    I have even blamed their father over the years for  "amping" them with sugar before bed time.  

     Clearly the placebo effect played the part for my belief.  I observed behavior that was a little out of the ordinary and jumped at the first reason that made sense to me and I never looked back until now!  I really did not have reason to look any further, because I had my answer.  Even though Uncle Martin could get my kids excited because he was always playing with them and roughing them up a little, I would NEVER indulge them in a soda and Uncle Martin!  That would have been chaos!  

     Surely too much sugar is bad for our health and we know it causes tooth decay (I will have to make sure), so it is good to indulge in moderation, just as everything should.  My kids on the other hand have fallen into the same trap of the placebo.  They have indulged in candy and soda and then run around claiming they are "on a sugar rush."  I will have to sit them down and give them the facts of life and tell them once in a blue moon mom makes mistakes and they have fallen victim to being deprived of sugar before bed.  I am not sure what will delight them more; the fact that I can not use this as a reason to deprive them of sugar or the fact I always tell them I know what is best because "I know more than them."

  I did find a website that would have certainly reinforced this belief until now.  Interestingly the person responsible for this false information is Nancy Guberti (not a doctor) and she is listed in the "physician directory of Warrior Mothers!"  It does not even say if she has an education in any field let alone nutrition.  But she can help with ADD, and Dislexia, and ADHD.  I will share the link and you be the judge of the information.

http://www.gemmlearning.com/nutrition_sugar_learning.php  

You can Eat Only One Piece of Halloween Candy!

As a child, my parents allowed me to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I used to eat ice cream for breakfast and chocolate all the time. Growing up, one would think I would be hyper in my childhood years because of the common belief that sugar causes hyperactivity in children. In my case, and in most with other children, this is not true at all. In fact, I was never a hyper child. So how can it be that sugar never made me hyper but “causes” other children to be? As stated, this is a myth and is actually proven to be false.
As with other myths, this one is continuously passed around by word of mouth. Parents believe that if they give their child sugar, their child will run wild. What the parents do not realize is that the environment that the child is in, or even how the child is raised, is what causes this hyperactivity, not the sugar. Many times when children become hyper it is when they are attending a party or something that will excite them, hence the reason for the hyperactivity. Another cause may be that if the parent is allowing the child to consume sugar and they appear hyper, the parent is lenient in other ways and allows their child to run wild, therefore there is no control over the child.
As stated in the YouTube video posted, there have been experiments performed to test this theory and the results have been that the placebo effect is actually what plays a role in this belief. Parents who were told that their child had consumed sugar, when the child actually had not, reported that their child was more hyper. This is evidence that parents are influenced by the belief of the correlation between sugar and hyperactivity, when in reality there is no correlation between the two.



Sources:
Lawson, Timothy J. Scientific Perspectives on Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: Readings for General Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
"YouTube - ‪Does Sugar Cause Hyperactivity in Children?‬‏." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 29 June 2011. .

The Effect of Sugar in Kids

When I was a kid my parents used to hold back on the sugary drinks and the sugar filled candy because they said it would make me hyper. I believed this my entire life, up until I researched it for this blog post. It turns out, that there have been many studies performed that prove that this myth isn't true.
According to one study by Drs. Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll from the Indiana University School of Medicine the reason for this myth is all in the minds of the parents. When they are told that the child has been given sugar, they believe the child seems more hyperactive, however the child isn't given anything with sugar. This proves that its only in the mind of the parents.
Because the parents react differently to the children having sugar, the children start to believe it effects them. Like the many things parents pass onto their kids, this is one of them. This is known as a placebo effect, when because you believe something is happening, you act like it is. So because kids think the sugar they are eating is making them hyper, they act more hyper then they would have without the sugar. Although sugar may not cause kids to become hyperactive, it's still not good to have sugar often. High levels of bad sugar can cause obesity, tooth decay, and many more health problems. So it is still important to control the amount of sugar given to children.

Sources:
http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2008/12/medical_journal_says_sugar_does_not_make_kids_hyper.html
http://www.misconceptionjunction.com/index.php/2011/04/sugar-doesnt-make-kids-hyper/

Sweet Sugar Sensation

When I was younger, my parents were real strict about what we ate as a kid. We were not allowed to drink soda and were limited to candy all because one, it rots your teeth and secondly it made us hyper, out-of-control kids.

While reading the text, Scientific Prospectives on Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, I find it so interesting that a myth like this is still believable to parents. Sugar has no correlation to a child's behavior. Many kids say they go ''nuts'' or ''crazy'' in ways when they each sugar. However in recent tests and studies, they had to groups of kids, some where given foods with sugar while the other group was given artificial sweetener. The results showed that there was no difference in the behavior of either groups. 

Usually when kids are given such foods like sweets and soda, it is around fun things occur like birthday parties. Still parents believe that when their kids are running and around and screaming is because of the sugar, not the caffeine from the soda OR the fun and excitement of the party itself. Another myth is kids who have ADHD are said to be ''sensitive'' to eating or consuming sugary products.

Parents will find any reason to pinpoint a child's bad behavior. Yes sugar is bad for your health if you have too much of it. It can rot your teeth and give you bad stomach aches. However with the research stated in the textbook and other test groups and stories, sugar is not a trigger for hyperactivity. It may just taste good in your candy bar or cake and maybe your excited to have the taste sensation but sugar will not have you ''bouncing of the walls"

Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=1658232&page=2

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/02/sugar-does-not-make-kids-hyper/

Sweet News

Many parents believe sugar is the cause for their child's cranky behavior. Is this really true or are they trying to make two things that don't go together connect because "it's the only logical explanation."

Why would it be the only logical explanation? Well, the child seems to only get moody right after they have a lolli-pop, or after birthday parties. Logically, that means the child had some sugar and there seems to be a correlation between having sugar and getting moody. Are we just grasping for a quick answer?

First lets point out that babies, in fact, come into this world with a natural sweet tooth, which is what attracts them to breast milk. So, if we are brought into this world craving sugar, how can it be detrimental to our moods/health.

Pediatricians and nutritionists say sugar can have a healthful place in a child's diet as long as it is consumed in modest amounts. In fact, a few drops of sugar water can help soothe a fussing baby. Well then, what is the problem? The problem seems to be that children are getting too much too soon.

It seems that an excess of sugar causes high blood pressure which in turn cuases high amounts of insulin in the blood to wipe out the sugar. The sugar is cleared quickly and this makes the mood change quickly as well. It also makes one crave sugar and puts one into a vicious cycle of highs and lows.

Source:http://www.parenting.com/article/Baby/Recipes--Nutrition-For-Children/Sugar-Does-It-Make-Kids-Hyper

Sugar and Children's Hyperactivity

For years, I have heard sugar makes children go wild from parents, teachers and even kids. This "broken record," was known by I feel everyone and many in fact believed it. I know, I did. I guess for many children this was the time when we were able to run around screaming, and when we would get in trouble...just blame the candy. But to my knowledge from our lectures and also some research, it was amazing to find that this is actually not true, and there is no effect on sugar and being hyper.

A source named Nonas from ABC News states, "There is no such thing as a sugar high. And there is no such thing as sugar making you nuts. There just isn't." When this source asked some children what happens when they consume sugar answers like it makes me crazy, I go nuts... were some to name a few.

Drs. Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll of Indiana University School of Medicine performed an experiment to prove that sugar had no impact of children. They stated, "At least 12 double blind randomised controlled trials have examined how children react to diets containing different levels of sugar. None of these studies, not even studies looking specifically at children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, could detect any differences in behaviour between the children who had sugar and those who did not." This I find interesting. It is just funny that for so many years, people were so serious about sugar and children being hyper. But there is no proof that it actually exists. I wonder how those parents who denied to give anything sugary to their children still feel on the subject?

Does sugar affect children's hyperactivity was submitted to Coca Cola, to be answered, definitely not. I guess alot of the candy companies are happy to find that these studies show no affect on childrens' hyperactivity and I guess I was one of many that were able to blame the crazy energy on the sugar we consumed.