Kids and sugar highs

[Serena]

Whenever my little girl gets ahold of some sugar, she gets absolutely silly and full of giggles. Whenever I want to be incredibly funny, all I have to do is give her a pop. How about any of your kids, is it so obvious with them, or is my girl strange?

 

[Mary Ellen]

Unfortunately the last scientific study I read didn't hold this true. (It was a while back though).

In the first part, when the parents knew which their child was getting, sugar or inert placebo, the parents reported their children having higher activity when getting sugar.

The second part was a 'double blind' study. The parents didn't know what their children were being given. There wasn't any correlation between between what the children ingested and reported activity levels.

It was the parents perception.

Most times there are high sugar levels, it is also a high energy time anyway: Christmas, Easter, birthday parties...

However, this is NOT to say that there aren't children affected by sugar. It is a VERY small number.

 

[Serena]

I heard about that study. My child must be part of the small crowd.

 

[angel's momma]

I read all I could on this too a year or so ago & everything said that there was no connection. It was very frustrating. I'm not sure if I can explain this clearly, but for my daughter it seems to have more of an effect if she has a "build up" of sugar, like something sweet everyday for a few days, and then there is a very noticeable difference in her behavior - she's very giddy and spacey, and just not herself. What concerned me the most is that I would see the same trend if she had a lot of juice, yogurt, etc. I did find one report that said that having the sugary item with other food, especially protein, would help, and it does seem to make a difference.

Of course, my parents take every opportunity they can to tell me that if I would just let DD eat all the sweets that she wants, then she can build up a tolerance for it.

 

[shortbun]

As a school bus driver, I see a direct correlation between
diet and behavior. On some days, I can ask "what did you
guys have for lunch today!?" and get some crazy answers!

As for my DS, when I pick him up at latchkey, I can tell if
snak has involved sugar immediately. The teachers think
it's funny/interesting. DS has many times chosen to skip a
snak that will make his body feel "active" when he knows
the evening will be ruined. He's a nationally ranked chess
player at age 8 and knows that junk food, chocolate and
soda pop come at the end of a tournament as they otherwise
ruin his concentration. On the other hand, he doesn't hold
back before a soccer game as he feels the squirrelly behavior
doesn't hamper his soccer play. Interesting.

 

[antkim]

No one can convince me otherwise- MY DS DEFINITELY HAS SUGAR HIGHS!!!! LOL Give him some ice cream or a piece of chocolate cake and watch out!!! Honestly, we go out of our way not to give him "sugar" close to bedtime or he will have trouble falling asleep-otherwise he is a great sleeper.

Kim

 

[BWVDenise]

It's not the SUGAR, it's the DYE!!!!!!!!

 

[neosnightmare]

Originally posted by Serena
I heard about that study. My child must be part of the small crowd.

i guess that me and every other kid that i new growing up was also part of this "small crowd"

 

[Danauk]

I am a teacher and I know some of my children can't have orange juice as it sends them gidy, one can't have blackcurrent for the same reason. Another boy can't have a certain type of biscuit for the same reason. It is a nightmare trying to remember who should not have what!!

 

[neosnightmare]

Originally posted by Danauk
I am a teacher and I know some of my children can't have orange juice as it sends them gidy, one can't have blackcurrent for the same reason. Another boy can't have a certain type of biscuit for the same reason. It is a nightmare trying to remember who should not have what!!

whats blackcurrent?

 

[tcfdick]

I'm a teacher too and I have kids tell me all the time that they will be hyper if they eat sugar. I'll bet they've been told this by their parents. Sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't.

I do know that sugar does affect me because I can't eat sugary foods anywhere near my bedtime. If I do, my heart races and I'm up off and on all night long. Caffeine does the same thing to me and if I use both caffeine and sugar together (reg. Coke or Pepsi for example), I can't sleep at all because of my pounding heart! I can feel and hear it beat.

 

[Serena]

Originally posted by BWVDenise
It's not the SUGAR, it's the DYE!!!!!!!!

Hmmm, I'll have to watch more carefully.