Factlet (23)

 Contrarian News For Kids

   The answer is likely "No"! So, let them have candy on halloween. If your child is a little too energetic for your liking, perhaps you should just have a glass of wine instead of depriving the kid of sugar. 

   The source for this information came to me via a newsletter from The Atlantic, to which you should subscribe. It is written by Olga Khazan and can be found on Oct. 26. Here is a portion:

   "Toddler parenting is an exercise in picking battles, and one I almost never pick is the battle over sugar. Quite often, my 2-and-a-half-year-old eats just a few bites of his meal before proclaiming himself “done, done, done,” yet mysteriously also desirous of dessert. Generally, at this point, I’ll give him a cookie, or whatever sweet he’s fixated on—yes, even if he hasn’t finished his healthy dinner, or if it’s almost bedtime, or if we’re somewhere I need him to behave.

   I feel good about these choices because: science. For one thing, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations on added sugar are generous, allowing for more than an entire Klondike bar’s worth of it a day. For another, sugar doesn’t make kids hyper. The sooner parents internalize this, the sooner they can drop sugar policing from the dreaded mental load and reapportion that slot to some other parental drudgery, such as keeping track of spirit days.

  Wherever a child is tipping over a bin of Legos or jumping on a couch, a “sugar rush” is bound to be blamed. Popular shows including The Office and Abbott Elementary have episodes in which characters eat too much sugar, go into overdrive, and crash. I’m often warned by other moms not to give my son anything sweet—by which I guess they mean any and all toddler food—before naptime.

  Their admonitions, however, are misguided. “I know parents, and many people, would love to be able to point the finger at sugar” when a child acts up, Jill Castle, a pediatric dietitian, told me. “But it just doesn’t hold up in the research.” A series of studies from the 1980s and ’90s, led by a prominent pediatrician named Mark Wolraich, helped break the connection between sugar and hyperactivity, which is generally defined as restlessness, poor behavior, and impulsivity.....

   I also think parents persist in believing that sugar makes kids rambunctious for the same reason they believe in so many other dubious child-rearing fallacies. Parents long for an explanation for their kids’ inexplicable behavior and for a sense of control over it. If sugar really explained why kids became manic and naughty, parents could create peace by banning Skittles and soda. But sugar isn’t to blame, which leaves us to accept our kids for the frenzied, irrational beings that they are."
 
Source: 
  Apart from this piece, which will probably not be found in the magazine, the author cites some studies, including this one:

   "Effects of Diets High in Sucrose or Aspartame on The Behavior and Cognitive Performance of Children,"

Authors: Mark L. Wolraich, Scott D. Lindgren, Phyllis J. Stumbo, Lewis D. Stegink, Mark I. Appelbaum, and Mary C. KiritsyAuthor Info & Affiliations

Published February 3, 1994

N Engl J Med 1994;330:301-307

Abstract

Background

Both dietary sucrose and the sweetener aspartame have been reported to produce hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in children.

Methods

We conducted a double-blind controlled trial with two groups of children: 25 normal preschool children (3 to 5 years of age), and 23 school-age children (6 to 10 years) described by their parents as sensitive to sugar. The children and their families followed a different diet for each of three consecutive three-week periods. One diet was high in sucrose with no artificial sweeteners, another was low in sucrose and contained aspartame as a sweetener, and the third was low in sucrose and contained saccharin (placebo) as a sweetener. All the diets were essentially free of additives, artificial food coloring, and preservatives. The children's behavior and cognitive performance were evaluated weekly.

Results

The preschool children ingested a mean (±SD) of 5600 ±2100 mg of sucrose per kilogram of body weight per day while on the sucrose diet, 38 ±13 mg of aspartame per kilogram per day while on the aspartame diet, and 12 ±4.5 mg of saccharin per kilogram per day while on the saccharin diet. The school-age children considered to be sensitive to sugar ingested 4500 ±1200 mg of sucrose per kilogram, 32 ±8.9 mg of aspartame per kilogram, and 9.9 ±3.9 mg of saccharin per kilogram, respectively. For the children described as sugar-sensitive, there were no significant differences among the three diets in any of 39 behavioral and cognitive variables. For the preschool children, only 4 of the 31 measures differed significantly among the three diets, and there was no consistent pattern in the differences that were observed.

Conclusions

Even when intake exceeds typical dietary levels, neither dietary sucrose nor aspartame affects children's behavior or cognitive function."

The Bonus: 
  It is best not to let your kids run with scissors. If you look at Factlet 13, you will learn that there are many, many ways to spell the word "scissors."