Absolute tragedy has struck. You’ve been watching your child’s candy, chocolate, and sugar consumption and, here now this close to bedtime, a well-meaning family member has given your child some candy. It’s only a matter of time before the house turns inside out and your sanity leaves for an extended vacation or takes a sabbatical, right? Well, not entirely. Let’s take a look at this long-held belief that candy and sugar, in general, can cause hyperactivity in children.
Where Did This Belief Start?
Like all far-out ideas, in the 1970s! A popular diet, known as the Feingold diet, denigrated sugar and brought it under ridiculous levels of scrutiny. Proponents of the diet made wide-reaching claims that sugar was the ill to every health problem and even could cause psychosis. They strongly encouraged parents to not give children sugar for its supposed negative effects on behavior and cognition.
Even though this belief around sugar was disproved in the 80s, the myth still persists.
Ok, But My Kid Definitely Gets More Hyper Around Candy
Your kid might just be a kid, science suggests. What may actually be happening is a two-portioned situation. On the one hand, children love candy, in fact, even most adults love candy too, so when they show excitement around candy (which is usually greater than the excitement adults express) this can be construed as an overtly hyper response. The other portion of the situation is us parents expect kids to become hyper after candy, so any behavior post-sugar consumption is automatically considered to be hyper, even if there’s been no behavioral change!
As far as science is concerned: sugar does not make your children hyper! Sorry, now there’s no excuse not to let them eat all the candy they want!
Sugar Can Still Lead To Cavities
Sorry to burst the candy bubbles of any child reading this article over their parents’ shoulders, but sugar consumption should still be in moderation. Though not affecting sleep, sugar, without proper dental hygiene, can lead to cavities!
If it has been a while since your last visit or if you’re unsure what ‘proper dental hygiene’ looks like, then come down to the brightest-smile club in town, the Dental Kidz Club! With expert care, fun staff ready to help, and multiple locations all over California, visit our website at DentalKidzClub.com to see what we can do for you!