Candy-Eating Kids Become Criminal Adults

[jimmy olsen]

They'll pry my M&Ms from my cold dead hands! 

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1927347,00.html

Do Candy-Eating Kids Become Criminal Adults?
By Alice Park Friday, Oct. 02, 2009

What parent hasn't used candy to pacify a cranky child or head off a brewing tantrum? When reasoning, threats and time-outs fail, a sugary treat often does the trick. But while that chocolate-covered balm may be highly effective in the short term, say British scientists, it may be setting youngsters up for problem behavior later. According to a new study, kids who eat too many treats at a young age risk becoming violent in adulthood.


The research was led by Simon Moore, a senior lecturer in Violence and Society Research at Cardiff University in the U.K., who specializes in the study of vulnerable youngsters. Moore had been investigating the factors that lead children to commit serious crimes, when, during the course of his work, he discovered that "kids with the worst problems tend to be impulsive risk takers, and that these kids had terrible diets — breakfast was a Coke and a bag of chips," he says. (See nine kid foods to avoid.)

Intrigued by this association, Moore turned to the British Cohort Study, a long-term survey of 17,000 people born during a one-week period in April 1970. That study included periodic evaluations of many different aspects of the growing children's lives, such as what they ate, certain health measures and socioeconomic status. Moore plumbed the data for information on kids' diet and their later behavior: at age 10, the children were asked how much candy they consumed, and at age 34, they were questioned about whether they had been convicted of a crime. Moore's analysis suggests a correlation: 69% of people who had been convicted of a violent act by age 34 reported eating candy almost every day as youngsters; 42% of people who had not been arrested for violent behavior reported the same. "Initially we thought this [effect] was probably due to something else," says Moore. "So we tried to control for parental permissiveness, economic status, whether the kids were urban or rural. But the result remained. We couldn't get rid of it." (See the 25 crimes of the century.)

In other words, regardless of other environmental and lifestyle factors, like family-income level, parenting style or children's level of education, the data suggested it was only the frequency of confectionery consumption in childhood that strongly predicted adult violence. "The key message is that this study really raises more questions than answers," says Moore. (See the top 10 food trends of 2008.)

One of those questions is whether sweets themselves contain compounds that promote antisocial and aggressive behavior, or whether the excessive eating of sweets represents a lack of discipline in childhood that translates to poor impulse control in adulthood. Moore is leaning toward the latter. It's possible that children who are given sweets too frequently never learn how to delay gratification — that is, they never develop enough patience to wait for things they want, leading to impulsivity in adulthood. It's also possible that children who are poorly behaved from the start tend to get more candy. (Read "Why Media Could Be Bad for Your Child's Health.")

Moore acknowledges that there is also some intriguing data suggesting that diet itself may have a profound effect on behavior. A University of Oxford researcher recently published controversial findings hinting that prisoners who were fed vitamin supplements — and therefore presumably getting well-balanced nutrition — had lower rates of disciplinary events and aggressive outbursts than a control group who were given placebo pills. While the association is preliminary, says Moore, "I think looking at diet is a fairly novel way to think of behavior over the life course."

[Martinus]

[derspiess]

and that these kids had terrible diets — breakfast was a Coke and a bag of chips," he says. (See nine kid foods to avoid.)

I make sure Tommy starts out his day with donuts

[DontSayBanana]

They'll pry my M&Ms from my cold dead hands! 

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1927347,00.html

[snip]

In other words, regardless of other environmental and lifestyle factors, like family-income level, parenting style or children's level of education, the data suggested it was only the frequency of confectionery consumption in childhood that strongly predicted adult violence. "The key message is that this study really raises more questions than answers," says Moore. (See the top 10 food trends of 2008.)

One of those questions is whether sweets themselves contain compounds that promote antisocial and aggressive behavior, or whether the excessive eating of sweets represents a lack of discipline in childhood that translates to poor impulse control in adulthood. Moore is leaning toward the latter. It's possible that children who are given sweets too frequently never learn how to delay gratification — that is, they never develop enough patience to wait for things they want, leading to impulsivity in adulthood. It's also possible that children who are poorly behaved from the start tend to get more candy. (Read "Why Media Could Be Bad for Your Child's Health.")

I wonder what their qualifier was for "too many treats." Not to state the obvious, but if a parent routinely caves to the kid's demands for treats, I'd say that already shows a lack of control in the household. Also, isn't it possible that if the parents crave instant gratification to the point where they use treats to shut a kid up, then that impulsivity itself could be a learned behavior, completely separate from the dietary intake?

Basically, I wonder if there's an issue of correlation being mistaken for causation. I also wonder about these arguments- it seems like we go to some really great lengths to make sure children can't be held responsible in any way for their own behavior.

[Ed Anger]

I was high on pixy sticks.



I turned out...fine.

[Malthus]

Seems to me the answer is given in the article - most likely, a parent who gives their kid sweets on demand is one who is not exercising appropriate discipline, which translates into a lack of *self* discipline later in life.

I believe there is also a strong correlation between parents who routinely hit their kids out of anger, and later criminality - not a surprise either; a parent who can't control themselves teaches by example.

[PDH]

I was high on pixy sticks.



I turned out...fine.

There's no sugar in Pixie Stix!

[Ed Anger]

I was high on pixy sticks.



I turned out...fine.

There's no sugar in Pixie Stix!

Might as well be kiddy cocaine.

[PDH]

remember the GIANT ones in the huge plastic stix, about 3 feet long?  Heaven

[Ed Anger]

remember the GIANT ones in the huge plastic stix, about 3 feet long?  Heaven

Now I do. Now I'm starting to have flashbacks. 

Another sin of mine:

Whoppers. The carton, not the wussy little bags.

[PDH]

The only problem with Whoppers in the carton were the few times the store put the OLD ones on the shelf...then the whoppers were little malted marbles...

[DontSayBanana]

remember the GIANT ones in the huge plastic stix, about 3 feet long?  Heaven

Only the orange ones. The grape ones tasted kinda funny when you got them that big.

[Ideologue]

Well, I did like candy.  Correlation?

Of course, I don't delay gratification at all now--if I want to eat a bag of candy for dinner, I buy a bag of candy.  Being an adult is neat.

[Malthus]

Well, I did like candy.  Correlation?

Of course, I don't delay gratification at all now--if I want to eat a bag of candy for dinner, I buy a bag of candy.  Being an adult is neat.

Yet your words in Korea's drunk thread contradict this hedonism. 

[Ideologue]

Well, I did like candy.  Correlation?

Of course, I don't delay gratification at all now--if I want to eat a bag of candy for dinner, I buy a bag of candy.  Being an adult is neat.

Yet your words in Korea's drunk thread contradict this hedonism. 

I'm not sure exactly which words you're referring to, but I can still think strategically despite my love of candy (or vagina, as the case may be).

Indeed, I rarely want to eat whole bags of candy now, because I can balance the consequences against the reward. If it's a whole bag of sluts, on the other hand, that's an entirely different balancing test.