Saturday, July 25, 2015
Sugar and Kids
I currently manage a busy Frozen Yogurt store, there are constantly children running around, screaming and being crazy (it's not as fun as it sounds ...). As one can assume, I constantly hear the phrase "Oh no, you guys are going crazy from all this sugar!" - While I already knew this to be true, I got a laugh while reading the chapter while at work. It's of interesting note that these same children are typically the children that come into the store already acting out, their behavior does not change after eating the sugar - the parents just become less tolerant and typically result to yelling at them and threatening them with throwing out their sundae (to which they never follow through). I'm a firm believer that the behavior of the children are direct reflection of a combination of things such as: Being at an ice-cream store that picking out their own toppings/flavors, and, unfortunately, poor parenting styles.
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I agree with you that children behaviors is a result of parenting styles but also it could be genetics like if a child has a disability. Like you said parents tell their children they are going to throw their sundaes away but never actually follows through on it. Children know this and therefore still act out because they are not getting disciplined.
ReplyDeleteI have also seen first hand the way parents feel in regards to their children having sugar. Parents of the children I babysit for do not let their children drink anything other than water or milk, not even juices, because of the sugar. The kids are under the age of five and they explain to me that if they have any sugar, they will have scary dreams. So, I am sure in many cases, parents tell their children as young as five years old that sugar will cause negative side effects.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you mention how the parents that you babysit for don't allow anything other than milk or water because there is a lot of sugar in milk! I hear this all the time from various individuals - complaining about one source of sugar while neglecting others that are considered "healthier options".
DeleteSugar and this crazy behavior can absolutely affect kids as I have seen in my own experience as a mother. When my son was little he had a very hyper reaction to coke and could not relax. At first it was silly and giddiness then he was telling me he didn't feel good. Needless to say my son now 13 doesn't like coke he doesn't barely ever drink soda. It was probably he combo of sugar and caffeine. Well enough about him what I see out in public and something you probably see in your store is that the kids are acting up in combination to the sugar and the parents blow up and start to yell when they realize how the kids are acting after they have not been paying attention to them as they are self absorbed in phone calls or texting and all other things on their phones. Parenting is a big part of children's behaviors and these days the parents are not watching as they are too busy with so many things at once.
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on genetics and how the kids are absorbing the sugar as well as their baseline behavior along with the parenting styles. Simple sugars have a direct effect on energy and can increase an already excited child. But it's not sustained for long because it's used up very quickly by the body. That quick energy burst on, say a child with ADHD is going to have an effect on behavior. How the parents deal with it is another story.
ReplyDeleteI can relate with your comment about you being a firm believer that the behavior of the children are direct reflection of a combination of things such as: Being at an ice cream store that picking out their own toppings/flavors, and, unfortunately, poor parenting styles. The way the parent raises their kids is how they will react at home and in public. If a child is raised to be able to go and do whatever they wanted to do even when it is bad and not get in trouble for it, the child will continue on doing that type of behavior knowing that he can get away with it. These kids going to the ice cream shop are just being kids and are excited to have ice cream. The sugar might get them all hyped up, but if a kid knows how to act in public then it is all good. But once they start going out of line and start doing bad things, I don’t think it’s because of the sugar, it’s from bad parenting.
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