Sugar makes children hyperactive. The fairy bread at the party, the lollies in the bowl, the icing on the cake, ten minutes later the whole room is climbing the curtains. Every parent has watched it happen. Every birthday party in Australia has demonstrated it. The science feels obvious: sugar is energy, kids on sugar have energy, ergo sugar causes the bouncing. Pediatricians used to confirm it. The Country Women's Association considered it general knowledge. So did your mum. So did everyone else's.
Sugar does not cause hyperactivity in children. At least 23 controlled trials have tested this directly, including double-blind studies where parents were told their kids had been given sugar when in fact they had been given a placebo. The result is consistent: parents rate sugar-given children as more hyperactive even when no sugar was given. The kids, measured objectively, behave the same. The 1995 JAMA meta-analysis reviewed all available trials and concluded that sugar has no effect on either behaviour or cognitive performance in children. The reason it looks like a sugar effect is the entire context: birthday parties involve a roomful of overstimulated children, an unusual environment, novelty, social excitement, and parents primed to expect a sugar reaction. The bouncing is real. The cause is the party. Apologies to the icing.
Reception
Go deeper
- Does sugar contain gluten? · gluten.refdat.com
Sources
- Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology PRIMARY
- American Academy of Pediatrics REFERENCE
- Snopes: Sugar and Hyperactivity PRIMARY
- Wikipedia: Hyperactivity and Sugar REFERENCE
- American Academy of Pediatrics: Sugar and Behavior REFERENCE
- Sugar Hyperactivity Meta-Analysis PRIMARY
- Expectation Bias Study REFERENCE