EVER WONDER?
Do kids really get “sugar highs”? 🍭
Still have a lot of Halloween candy in the house? You might have heard, “Don’t eat that, you’ll be bouncing off the walls!” Here’s what scientists have actually found:
Does sugar make kids hyper? 🍬
You might not believe it, but no!
In 1995, scientists combined the results of 16 studies where kids were given either sugar or a placebo (a fake that looks and tastes the same but has no sugar).
The kids, parents, and scientists didn’t know who got what until the very end. They found that sugar made no difference in how the kids actually behaved.
Why does this myth continue? 🔎
In one study, 35 boys ages 5-7 were all given a sugar-free drink. But half of their moms were told that their sons had been given a huge dose of sugar.
These moms rated their sons as more hyper, even though their boys didn’t have any sugar 🙃
They also kept a closer watch on their sons and corrected them more 🧐
Scientists call this an expectation effect (when what you expect changes what you see). Moms expected their kids to be more hyper, so they “saw” them being more hyper!
What else might be going on? 🎉
Kids usually eat lots of sugar at birthday parties and holidays, when friends are running around together and staying up past bedtime. Those moments are already exciting, and that’s probably the real reason kids get hyper, not the sugar.
Fun fact: Some sodas and chocolate (especially dark chocolate!) also have caffeine, which can make it harder to settle down. ☕