Parents who were told their 5-7-year-old sons had ingested large amounts of sugar (when in fact they were given a placebo) were more inclined to rate their children as significantly more hyperactive than mothers who were told their children received the placebo. If sugar does change something, it’s parental expectations of their children. In fact, a meta-analysis of 16 different studies on sugar and hyperactivity all came back with the same result: ‘sugar does not affect the behaviour or cognitive performance of children’. The authors concluded that ‘neither sucrose nor aspartame produces discernible cognitive or behavioural effects in normal preschool children or in school-age children believed to be sensitive to sugar.’ Parents were asked to assess and monitor their child’s behaviour over this time.Īt the end of the nine-week study, the results of cognitive and behavioural tests, along with reports from parents and researchers were collated. For each period, the families consumed a diet either high in sucrose with no artificial sweeteners, a diet low in sucrose and containing aspartame (artificial sweetener), or a diet low in sucrose and containing saccharin (the placebo). In a double-blind research study undertaken in 1994, children (some of whom had been identified by their parents as sugar-sensitive) and their families were placed on a different diet for three consecutive three-week periods. It's not the sugar that's to blame for excitable behaviour in kids. From a scientific perspective, there is no substantial evidence that sugar or artificial sweeteners cause hyperactivity in children. The answer, based on numerous studies over several decades, might surprise more than a few frazzled parents.

A look at the giggles, the silliness, the loudness and energy might seem to confirm this assumption … but what does the science say? Ask any parent returning from a birthday party with kids and they’ll swear that yes, of course, without doubt sugar makes their children hyperactive.

Does sugar make you hyper