Boys and girls, want some candies and lollipops?
There is a popular belief that kids become hyperactive at birthday parties, Halloween and other clebrations where lots of cakes, cookies, ice-creams and candies are served. They seem to get so wild and "high" as if they have taken cocaine after eating sugary foods.
I've been having bad experience before with hyperactive kids (They were slow learners and having difficulties to focus in my remedial class too normally) when I was in my first practical. After giving them some chocolates and sweets during recess, they seemed like bursting with energy in my next lesson. They jumped here and there, rolling on the dirty floor like there was no tomorrow, tearing up my teaching aids and messing up with my laptop. I just knew that the whole class was in a total chaos. Luckily, I had a lecturer who was understanding enough and didn't fail me during his observation in my class. Overall, it was my fault too, because as a teacher, I really failed the control of classroom.
So, is there really a condition as 'sugar high' or 'sugar rush'? Has this effect been greatly exaggerated or non-existent? I've been reading articles on medical research lately and I found that the 'sugar high' condition is not yet medically or scientifically-proven. The studies conducted have shown little, if any, connection between eating sugar and hyperactivity.
One study compared a group of normal kids to other group whose parents believed their kids were prone to 'sugar high'. Each group of kids were kept on a different diet for several weeks. One of the diets was high in sugar, one was low in sugar and one contained artificial sweeteners like saccharin. After 9 weeks, the study showed that the different diets of kids had almost no effect on their behaviours.
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