LONDON : Children who eat sweets every day are more likely to be violent as adults, possibly because they want instant gratification, a British psychological study suggested Thursday.
The research, by researchers at Cardiff University in Wales, took around 17,000 babies born in 1970 and monitored them at age five, 10, and 34 years old to see if there was a correlation.
It found that 69 per cent of those who had been found guilty of offences involving violence reported they had eaten confectionery nearly every day during childhood, compared to 42 per cent of those who were non-violent.
"Our favoured explanation is that giving children sweets and chocolate regularly may stop them learning how to wait to obtain something they want," lead researcher Simon Moore said.
"Not being able to defer gratification may push them towards more impulsive behaviour, which is strongly associated with delinquency," he added in the study, published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.
But the study was condemned as "utter nonsense" by the Food and Drink Federation, which represents Britain's food and drink industry.
"Anti-social behaviour stems from deep-rooted social and environmental factors such as poor parenting and a deprived upbringing and is not linked to whether or not you ate sweeties as a kid," said its director of communications Julian Hunt.
"How anyone could leap to such a conclusion is beyond me."
I think the key in this article is that we learn to ration the amount of sweets we give to our children. It’s all about balance. Balance helps to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
We also learn to train children’s tolerance levels by restricting some of their habits.
In recent years there have been countless researches on the effect of sugar and children, that itself should be a cause for worry.
Healthy dieting should begin when one is a child. If your child is on an unhealthy diet, start weaning him or her on healthier foods. However, this does not mean you should restrict your child completely off unhealthy foods. Try to instil in your child the values of healthy living.
Start off by introducing a large amount of fibre into your child’s diet. Include lots of colours to keep him or her interested.
The research, by researchers at Cardiff University in Wales, took around 17,000 babies born in 1970 and monitored them at age five, 10, and 34 years old to see if there was a correlation.
It found that 69 per cent of those who had been found guilty of offences involving violence reported they had eaten confectionery nearly every day during childhood, compared to 42 per cent of those who were non-violent.
"Our favoured explanation is that giving children sweets and chocolate regularly may stop them learning how to wait to obtain something they want," lead researcher Simon Moore said.
"Not being able to defer gratification may push them towards more impulsive behaviour, which is strongly associated with delinquency," he added in the study, published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry.
But the study was condemned as "utter nonsense" by the Food and Drink Federation, which represents Britain's food and drink industry.
"Anti-social behaviour stems from deep-rooted social and environmental factors such as poor parenting and a deprived upbringing and is not linked to whether or not you ate sweeties as a kid," said its director of communications Julian Hunt.
"How anyone could leap to such a conclusion is beyond me."
I think the key in this article is that we learn to ration the amount of sweets we give to our children. It’s all about balance. Balance helps to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
We also learn to train children’s tolerance levels by restricting some of their habits.
In recent years there have been countless researches on the effect of sugar and children, that itself should be a cause for worry.
Healthy dieting should begin when one is a child. If your child is on an unhealthy diet, start weaning him or her on healthier foods. However, this does not mean you should restrict your child completely off unhealthy foods. Try to instil in your child the values of healthy living.
Start off by introducing a large amount of fibre into your child’s diet. Include lots of colours to keep him or her interested.
0 comments: