Medical Myth buster series

“Sugar or sweets make kids hyperactive.”  This is a myth that simply lives on despite multiple studies that have rendered it completely false.

Truth: Although sugar and/or sweets are not optimal for overconsumption in kids and/or in adults (for that matter), science does NOT show a correlation between sugar consumption and hyperactivity in children. 

One notable study, published in in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology in 1994, involved a group of “sugar sensitive” children that was split into two groups. Both sub-groups were given the one and same relatively sugar free drink. One sub-group was told it was given a highly dosed sugar drink and the other sub-group was told it was given a relatively sugar free drink.

The parents who thought their children were given a “highly dosed sugar drink” reported their children as “hyperactive.” However, an activity monitoring sensor attached onto the children (who were misconstrued as hyperactive) revealed otherwise.

What studies, like the foregoing, have shown is that parental expectations are perceived (through the parents’ own prism of knowledge) as “truths.” In other words, the parental expectation that sugar causes adverse behavior makes it seem like a reality to the parents.

The reason it appears that children are hyperactive with sugar intake is they consume it in environments where social circles are less restricted; they get to play, be loud and interact with other kids…while and when the adults are less inclined to draw the "normal" lines of behavior.