It’s Halloween. It’s dark and quiet on a small neighborhood street, and all the empty candy bowls have been taken inside the houses. In one house, two tired parents are trying to corral two kids into bed. The kids are running around, jumping up and down, chocolate covering their faces.
Just by looking at the picture, one probably would conclude that the kids ate a bit too much candy and got hyper. But is there any truth to this assumption?
The short answer is no. No, the sugar did not make them hyper. It could be the excitement over Halloween though. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, kids can be hyperactive because of the situation they are in, like an exciting birthday party.
Family & Consumer Science teacher Ms. Markell Reid agrees with this.
“Kids are typically excited already at parties. So people typically think having sugar makes them even more hyper than they already are when it can give us, like, a little burst of energy,” Reid said.
Various studies have all shown the same thing: there is no known link between sugar and hyperactiveness. According to the Urgent Care of Fair Hope, the myth that sugar makes people hyper originates from a study conducted in the 1970s. The study showed that removing sugar from a child’s diet created behavioral changes, but since then, no scientific work has been done to back up the claim that the sugar causes hyperactivity.
However, that does not mean sugar has no effect on the body. In fact, sugars are a type of carbohydrates which the body uses for energy.
“Your body and your brain mainly run on carbohydrates, and so we want to make sure carbohydrates break down into sugars, so your body essentially does need them at the end of the day to do some functions going on internally,” Reid said.
According to Harvard Medical School, glucose, which is a simple sugar, is fundamental to memory, learning, and other important brain functions. However, having too much sugar can lead to negative consequences, such as aged cells and high blood pressure. Overconsuming sugar can lead to type 2 diabetes and dangerous heart issues.
To maintain a healthy level of sugar intake, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people gain less than 10% of their total daily calories from added sugars.
Health teacher Ms. Jenna Butler agrees with this thinking, and recommends having a balance between different sugars.
“Moderation, moderation, moderation. Yes, you’re allowed to have the good sugars that you like, but also try to have the natural sugars as well,” Butler said.
Reid takes a similar approach, but suggests keeping a healthy and mindful relationship between different types of food, and not putting too much emphasis on whether something is “good” or “bad” for you.
“I think that we should eat everything in moderation, but have a good relationship with food. I don’t think we should hold things that are higher in sugar content on a pedestal,” Reid said.
