"Refined Sugar" - feeding it to kids

[prasantrin]

I don't think feeding children refined sugars is a horrible thing. That the children will become addicted to sugar, or that they'll develop some horrible syndrome or disease from eating too much sugar is far from fact. As for the child who sneaks off with bags of candy--who says it's because of an addiction to sugar? Is that a medical diagnosis? Is it impossible that it (his sneaking off to eat bags of candy) merely a symptom of some other problem?

When I was a child, I used to eat refined sugar. I don't mean candy or foods made with refined sugar, but I mean plain old sugar. We'd be at a restaurant or somewhere that had sugar packets, or even better, sugar cubes, and I'd eat them. Quite a few of them, in fact, and my parents would let me (this was well before the "refined sugars are evil" bandwagon). I liked them...a lot. Sometimes at home, I'd even eat spoonfuls of sugar. I didn't eat a lot of other candy (I prefered salty snacks), but I loved white sugar.

I'm no longer a child, and I don't have any cavities (or fillings, for that matter), nor am I diabetic. I don't have ADD or ADHD, or any other syndrome or "disease" often attributed to the ingestion of refined sugars. I still don't eat a lot of sweets, but I still like white sugar. I'm more "addicted" to good food, in general, than I am to sugar, and that is also something in which my parents allowed me to indulge. I love good food. Should my parents have been scolded for exposing me to something I have become addicted to?

From what we've been told, though, I think there is something strange about that family. What we know is only one person's viewpoint, however, so it's best not to make judgments.

[Dave the Cook]

As far as I know, there has never been any proof of a sugar-hyperactivity connection. Plenty of parents believe it exists, but scientific studies don't support the conclusion . . .

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Further to this from the NIMH booklet on ADHD:

. . . . .

In another study, children whose mothers felt they were sugar-sensitive were given aspartame as a substitute for sugar. Half the mothers were told their children were given sugar, half that their children were given aspartame. The mothers who thought their children had received sugar rated them as more hyperactive than the other children and were more critical of their behavior.

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Likewise, there's no established causal relationship between diet and ADD or ADHD (from the same source):

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It has been suggested that attention disorders are caused by refined sugar or food additives, or that symptoms of ADHD are exacerbated by sugar or food additives. In 1982, the National Institutes of Health held a scientific consensus conference to discuss this issue. It was found that diet restrictions helped about 5 percent of children with ADHD, mostly young children who had food allergies. A more recent study on the effect of sugar on children, using sugar one day and a sugar substitute on alternate days, without parents, staff, or children knowing which substance was being used, showed no significant effects of the sugar on behavior or learning

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Also this from the Mayo Clinic website:

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there's no evidence that sugar causes ADHD or that diet has any consistent effect on the signs and symptoms of ADHD

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[Pan]

[...]When I was a child, I used to eat refined sugar.  I don't mean candy or foods made with refined sugar, but I mean plain old sugar.  We'd be at a restaurant or somewhere that had sugar packets, or even better, sugar cubes, and I'd eat them.[...]

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I did, too, though probably not more than two at a time (from what I can remember, anyway -- my memory on that may not be accurate). My mother complained if I had more than one. I preferred the brown sugar ones.

[annecros]

Thank you for that study, Fat Guy. From reading it, it almost appears that the study was set up to observe parental behaviour and perceptions more than the child's behaviour in response to sugar. But, I need to go through and read that again.

I never posited that sugar caused ADHD, but I did point out that the child with the parent who put her to bed with a bottle of Koolaid up until she was six is now being MEDICATED for ADHD. I honestly don't think the child in fact has ADHD, to be truthful. I believe that the child is a spoiled and self indulgent brat who lacks the social skills to function in the average group of 7 year olds, even in a recreational setting. I think the Koolaid bottles are a symptom of bad parenting. No, I am not a doctor and not qualified to diagnose or rule out ADHD. But they didn't get a diagnosis either. They took her to an GP because the school suggested that they "try" her on the meds. For me, the issue is bad parenting, but a poor diet does not help the situation. It's a shame, because that is a bright and beautiful child. I've seen her wreak havoc on a wedding reception, though.

There is no doubt that a healthy child is a happier child. Diet has to figure into that, and so does physical exercise, play time and a certain amount of structure in the household.

There is something wrong here for these children, and the children will suffer for it after Grandma and Grandpa are long gone.

I gave my kids candy from time to time. I let them keep the Halloween bags in their rooms for a week after. I put candy in the Christmas stocking and let them eat cookies for breakfast Christmas morning. But I did not routinely drop candy in thier mouths when they were otherwise occupied. And we had our problems, but the rare times they made themselves sick eating something, it was only once.

[Rinsewind]

Not sure I'm adding anything new here, but...

For a number of cultures, food is equated with love and affection. When grandparents feed kids what were, to them, high prestige foods (and store-bought candy can certainly have been a high-prestige item for people who grew up without much money) they are expressing affection. They are giving their grandchildren what they were able to have only rarely. Likewise, there are cultures where it is normal for parents and grandparents to feed children manually long after our society considers it acceptable-- in the belief that children are growing and should eat, and a family member is expressing love and affection by trying to fatten up the kids.

To criticize the practice can be construed by the grandparents as meaning that their love is bad for the kids. Any grandparent would be insulted by that assertion.

So you have a cultural and generational problem. Is it good for the kids? Probably not. I can see why it's bothersome, and vegging out in front of the tv while eating mindlessly can be detrimental to one's future health (it depends on the person). But this isn't something that you will be able to change in this family. It may end up that this is something that the kids, when grown, will look back fondly on when they are adults and they think of their grandparents.

If it's bothersome to the parents of these kids, they can try to deal with it themselves, or simply try to ensure that their kids don't load up on the sugary snacks at other points in the day. I think the situation may be unfortunate, but it is certainly understandable and not meant to be detrimental to the kids.

-Rinsewind

[K8memphis]

Interesting stuff. There are studies out there that indicate adhd is exacerbated by diet. But I'm so not into studies. The marker I'm familiar with is 50% can be affected by diet.

Now unscientifically here, I got two kids, Chef-boy who is hyper and Teacher-girl who is not. Teacher-girl would get totally whacked out on sugar especially sugared drinks as a young girl. We had been out shopping and my Mom said, Why was Grace so cranky? She was so good before lunch and so not good after lunch. I explained the sugar thing and that she had had some Sprite. I was real careful about sugar from birth with both of them. This is in the early single digit years.

Now Chef-boy was another story. I had him on an elimination diet and for him, the effects of sugar were a non-factor. Food high in salicylates set him off like a clock. Tomatoes, ICED TEA, red food coloring, apples were the biggies that I can remember. His sweet Grandma made him plenty of pear cobblers.

Now, interestingly enough one glass of iced tea was ok. Two or three were death and destruction man. So he could have a salicylate rich foodstuff but only one serving, no leftovers. If he did have multiple servings, the worst (as in out of control up the walls) behavior was noticed 2 to three days after consumption. So the one day on one day off study wasn't close to being a true elimination diet. I don't know how they could consider that scientific.

And my little studies were just on my kiddlettes. I mean I learned how to make pizza sauce from beets--it was pretty good (don't ask Chef-boy ). His birthday cake one year was a giant like 14 inch doughnut shaped cream puff race car track. That was pretty cool.

It really made a huge difference in his ability to function, process and listen. He never got on the drugs for adhd and is 6'4'. So many kids on the drugs have stunted growth, so it sure ain't easy I'll tell yah that for sure.

But my experience is that 50% of adhd's can be positively affected by diet. But you have to be some kind of dedicated (ie crazy yourself) to accomplish this.

I'll see if I can find some Dr. Feingold studies...

Edited February 24, 2007 by K8memphis (log)

[K8memphis]

Here's a good link. Umm, now they are saying 80% can be favorably helped. But it's a whole lot more than one day this one day that. Edited February 24, 2007 by K8memphis (log)

[K8memphis]

Here's a link describing an elimination diet used for food sensitivity possibly producing colic. This Doctor says that it takes two weeks to cleanse the mother's body then four days to make a determination on a specific food.

[Dave the Cook]

We're getting pretty far afield here. The Feingold diet doesn't make any special claims for sugar. From Kate's link above:

The Feingold Program does not eliminate sugar or junk food (although we encourage moderation). Sugar is often believed to be the culprit because sugary foods are generally loaded with synthetic additives. A small number of children don't do well with sugar, but most can enjoy sweets as long as they don't overdo them or eat them on an empty stomach.

In general, elimination diets address allergies, not sugar consumption.

[K8memphis]

Maybe I didn't draw my conclusion very well because I am on target here with the subject.

In one young child who is not adhd and did not get any refined sugar in her regular diet, the addition of sugar sent her into a tailspin.

In the child who was adhd, sugar itself was not a factor. Regulation of other foods was a definite favorable factor, but not an easy thing to do.

And my further point was that if a study needed to be done about the effects of sugar, I contend that 24 hours time is not enough to rid the system of it's effects so that it can then be clinically determined.

Even though I actually agree with the finding, I believe that study to be flawed.

Edited February 24, 2007 by K8memphis (log)