Friday 6 December 2013

Does sugar cause hyperactivity?


There's a common belief that sugar causes hyperactivity, especially in kids. But is this true?
If you didn't already know sugar, or sucrose, is a disaccharide commonly used as a sweetener in cooking. Sugar affects the body in a number of different ways, such as accelerating toot decay and contributing to obesity. Sugar is also accused for inducing a hyperactive behaviour if consumed in too large amounts, but unlike tooth decay and obesity there's no evidence to support this claim. There's actually a study that suggest that the phenomenon is purely a placebo.
In this study 35 boys between the ages five to seven, (The children were claimed by their mothers to be easily affected by sugar.) and their mothers were divided into two groups: One control group and one experimental group. The mothers in the control group where told their children had received a placebo: Aspartame. The mothers in the experimental group were told their children had been given a large dose of sugar. In reality all children had been given the placebo, aspartame. The test subjects were videotaped and the mothers were later questioned about their experience of their children’s behaviour. The mothers in the experimental group rated their children as significantly more active than they usually were.
This study implies that there's no causation between sugar consumption and hyperactivity, however, further studies need to be conducted in order for a conclusion to be drawn.


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