Our Children: Do Sweets Promote Adult Violence?
Thursday, January 14, 2010 at 5:50AMToo many sweets for children may promote adult violence. Sound far-fetched? The British researchers who found the link between giving kids daily sweets - candy and chocolate - and violent behavior when the youngsters grow up suggest that the "instant gratification" of treats on demand may teach kids that impulsiveness pays off, and perhaps foster aggression later in life. This was a large study with more than 17,000 participants; data on their health, education, social and economic circumstances and consumption of sweets was collected when the kids were five and 10 years old and later when they were 26, 30, 34 and 42. The study showed that of the participants who had eaten sweets daily as children 69 percent had violent tendencies by the age of 34, while these behaviors were seen in only 42 percent of those who didn't get daily sweets. While the researchers said that their findings need further attention, they suggested that improving youngsters’ diet may enhance their health and make them less prone to aggression. The study was published in the October 2009 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Reader Comments (2)
I suspect that this has more to do with parenting than with candy. Parents with poor parenting skills and who impulsively gratify themselves produce impulsive and aggressive children, in my experience as a therapist. This is where research can be soft. I would be interested to know more about the parents who let the children eat sweets every day. Let's not mistake the effect for the cause.
Susan Pease Banitt, LCSW
www.insightouthealing.com
I doubt the relationship between sugar and violence is due to instant gratification issues, rather its more to do with the blood sugar issue...Some people can handle blood sugar changes more than others...but people with emotional problems, diabetes and or other health issues probably react violently as a result of the metabolic changes sugar bring about. For example a person with ADD,, ADHD will suffer greater effects as a result of sugar and this can bring about violenct tendencies that would not ordinarily exist..