For many parents, picking a child up after a birthday party kicks off an evening of hyperactivity, tantrums and, more often than not, nausea.
But psychologists say that blaming that rush of energy (and the inevitable crash) on sugary foods is wrong – and unfair.
Speaking at Cheltenham Science Festival last June, David Benton, a professor at Swansea University, said that people were mistaking sugar providing energy with feeling energetic.
“Sugar does not increase the activity of children,” he explained. “It is the expectation of the parents.
“Children get hyperactive at [a] party, running around wild and winding themselves up. That is the problem distinguishing one thing from another.”
Benton went on to say that the situation feeds itself; as parents anticipate over-energetic behaviour, they put their child on a tighter rein and interpret actions differently.
His theory is backed up with research dating as far back as 1994, when a double-blind study found that parents who were told their child had been fed sugar rather than a placebo were more likely to say their child was hyperactive – even if the child had consumed no sugar at all.
Experts are quick to point out that this shouldn’t give parents permission to ply their children with the sweet stuff; with 99 per cent of Aussie kids not getting enough veg and news that a “sugar tax” may be introduced in an effort to curb childhood obesity, it’s probably best to stick to hummus and toasted nori chips.
This story originally appeared on Food To Love.
