Permission to Eat Sweets. Sugar Doesn't Cause Hyperactivity. It's All in Your Mind.

The next few weeks will be a sugary time. Grandma will make gingerbread cookies, a co-worker will bring in chocolate covered macaroons, your kitchen will fill up with bake sale goodies. And where there are sweets, there is an eager child close behind. Many parents assume that eating sugary foods gets their kids wound up, but research actually shows that this is a myth.

There have been at least 20 double-blind, placebo-controlled studies showing no difference between children's behavior when they've had a dose of sugar - usually in the form of a sugar-sweetened drink - versus when they are fed a placebo drink with no sugar. Barbara Strupp, professor of nutritional sciences and psychology at Cornell University says that controlled studies have shown that not only does sugar have zero effect on behavior, it doesn't adversely affect a child's thinking or concentration; kids on a dose of sweets are not more distractible or unfocused. "The evidence is so strong and conclusive," says Strupp, "that the link between sugar and hyperactivity is now simply a non-issue from a scientific perspective."

So why do so many parents believe that sugar turns their little one into a jumping bean? Strupp thinks it may have to do with the context in which children are given sweets. Parents who limit sugar intake to special occasions might attribute their child's buzz to the birthday cake, when it's actually more about the thrill of finally having sweets and the excitement of the festivities. "It's a self-fulfilling prophecy," says Strupp. "Many parents believe that sugar is a stimulant, and as a result they limit sugar intake. When they do make the exception, the child probably will be excited, which reinforces the myth. Parties and family gatherings also tend to create heightened activity in children, which parents attribute to the sugar."

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