# Is there such a thing as a sugar high for kids? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198 "2007-04-22T19:01:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yIIa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/9fc348/32.png) [@yIIa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yIIa)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/1 "2007-04-22T19:01:22Z")
Does candy really make them hyper? Because I’ve never noticed it in any of them. They are often hyper when bugging you for candy and then quiet when they get it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/2 "2007-04-22T20:25:14Z")
[QUOTE=yIIa] Does candy really make them hyper? Because I’ve never noticed it in any of them. They are often hyper when bugging you for candy and then quiet when they get it. [/QUOTE] Yes. Mine doesn’t like an overabundance of sugar these days, but when she was younger she was clearly hyperactive and tended to misbehave when in the throes of a sugar buzz. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/3 "2007-04-22T21:06:45Z")
The “sugar high” has been debunked again and again, but it lives on. The only logical explanation, that has been offered, is that sugary treats often, also, contain caffeine, which may explain the energy boost, that and the festive atmosphere surrounding an event where excessive amounts of sugary treats are consumed. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/4 "2007-04-22T21:47:13Z")
The last article I saw about that, though, said that researchers gave their test group candy and observed them for 30 minutes, during which their behavior was no different from those receiving a placebo. In my experience with my 3-yr-old twins, what actually happens is not so much a sugar “high” as a sugar CRASH. With my son especially, the crash occurs roughly 60 - 90 minutes after the treat has been consumed (depending on what else was in his stomach). At that point, extreme whininess, crying and hyperactive behavior commences, and you can bet he’s going to fight with his sister or me (or both). I have a problem with sugar seriously affecting my mood as well (and I don’t have any signs of diabetes or hypo/hyperglycemia). Chocolate doesn’t do it, but sugary treats, particularly when consumed alone, do. IANAD, but my little pet theory is that it has to do with the relationship between insulin swings in your bloodstream and serotonin levels in the brain. I think that the high fat content of chocolate offsets the effect (because fat boosts serotonin), as does the fat in something like the Big Mac eaten with a Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/5 "2007-04-22T21:51:20Z")
I don’t believe there is such a thing as a sugar high. Lots of food have sugars of all types, but apparantly only white table sugar is the ‘evil’ one. I’ve never noticed a sugar high in my kids. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/6 "2007-04-22T22:02:07Z")
Well, I certainly get a bit… active if I have a bunch of sweets. Gibbering would be a better word. I’m willing to entertain the idea that it’s not sugar, but there’s no caffine in the packets of Haribo that effect me. My mother would tell me it’s the ‘E Numbers’ but thats a vague term anyway. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/7 "2007-04-22T22:14:24Z")
[QUOTE=essell] Well, I certainly get a bit… active if I have a bunch of sweets. Gibbering would be a better word. I’m willing to entertain the idea that it’s not sugar, but there’s no caffine in the packets of Haribo that effect me. My mother would tell me it’s the ‘E Numbers’ but thats a vague term anyway. [/QUOTE] From the Wiki site on Haribo: “The consistency of gummy bears has been proposed as ideal for breast implants. “Gummy Bear breast implants” have been on the market since 2005.” There you go, all the excitement is over those bodacious new boobs. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/8 "2007-04-22T22:27:20Z")
No. Candy makes kids (and the rest of us) happy, so we play. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/9 "2007-04-23T00:10:07Z")
Sugar strongly effects my mood. When I ate sugar regularly I behaved like a meth addict. As said upthread, it probably isn’t the sugar itself per se, but rather the insulin/andrenaline swings the sugar causes. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/10 "2007-04-23T01:27:38Z")
[QUOTE=Ca3799] I don’t believe there is such a thing as a sugar high. Lots of food have sugars of all types, but apparantly only white table sugar is the ‘evil’ one. I’ve never noticed a sugar high in my kids. [/QUOTE] Wth mine, I noticed something very interesting. I’d always assumed sugar highs were real, so whenever she seemed hyper and had recently had something sugary, I’d think “huh, sugar high.” But then I started trying to predict it - that is, EXPECTING a high after she had something sugary. And it just did not line up; sometimes she’d be hyper in hte period of time after having sugary stuff, and something she would not. Once I started looking for it and making note of it happening or not happening it became very obvious there was no connection at all. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2007, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sugar-high-for-kids/401198/11 "2007-04-23T02:13:18Z")
OK, we’ve heard a number of anecotes and opinions. But, is there evidence to help “fight our ignorance”? [Here is a short but comprehenisve review](http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/166/2/205) on the interplay between what we eat and how we behave. In it, we learn that: > [@](#): > > Popular beliefs about the effects of carbohydrate are very different from the information gleaned from controlled studies. Any discussion of the behavioural effects of food has to deal with the persistent myth that sugar causes hyperactivity in children. More than 20 short-term, placebo-controlled studies in a variety of settings failed to find any adverse effects of sugar ingestion, even in children identified by their parents as reacting adversely to sugar. Although these studies could be criticized as being too short in duration, a well-designed and extensive study lasting several weeks also found no adverse behavioural effects of sugar. This does not mean that an individual child will not respond with improved behaviour when sugar is removed from his or her diet. If the expectation of the parents and the child is that the child’s behaviour will improve, and if the parents increase their involvement in the life of the child to the extent that they are aware of everything that the child ingests, an improvement in behaviour is quite possible. This may account for the many anecdotal reports of behavioural improvements accompanying the removal of sugars from the diet, and this may also explain the persistence of the idea that sugar causes hyperactivity despite convincing evidence to the contrary. Reading further, we have: > [@](#): > > Although sucrose does not cause hyperactivity, controlled studies comparing different macronutrients have demonstrated effects on the brain of both simple and complex carbohydrates. The effects appear to be sedating rather than activating. And, interestingly, > [@](#): > > The memory-enhancing effect of glucose is also well established in humans. More generally, > [@](#): > > Many of the popular beliefs about the effect of foods on mood and behaviour are incorrect. These include the postulated adverse effects of sugar on behaviour in children and the mood-elevating effect of carbohydrate . . . Other than personal experience and hearsay, can anyone cite a study that confirms the assertion that “sugar make kids hyper”?