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Oct. 23 2009 - 7:25 pm | 901 views | 0 recommendations | 56 comments

Candy Kills

By NADIA ARUMUGAM

 It rots our teeth, some say it makes us cranky (that inevitable downer from a sugar high) and it definitely makes us fat. But there’s an even darker side to candy; it makes us kill. Well, not typically, but it could do if you gorged on enough of it as a kid. In a study published in the October issue of The British Journal of Psychiatry,  researchers at the University of Cardiff found that 10-year-olds who ate confectionary every day were significantly more likely to have been convicted for violence at the age of 34.

The researchers analyzed information collected from the on-going 1970 British Cohort Study which takes as its subjects 17,200 people who were born in a particular week in April in 1970. Since then six attempts have been made to collect data from the subjects when they were 5, 10, 16, 26, 29 and 34. The scope of data ranged from the purely medical to physical and educational development in childhood and teenhood and eventually included economic factors as the subjects evolved into fully functioning adults.

The analysis revealed that 69% of respondents who were violent at the age of 34 had eaten candy every day when they were young. Like many of our least likeable traits, this one can also be attributed to our parents it seems. Dr. Simon Moore, the lead researcher on the study, stressed during a phone conversation, that they don’t actually know what is the connection between confectionary and adult aggression. But, their favored explanation for this trend was that children who were routinely and consistently given candy were prevented from learning how to deter gratification. This impacted on how children negotiated the process of decision-making with long-lasting effect. The inability to deter gratification makes for impulsive children and impulsive children turn into impulsive adults. And impulsive adults do what they want, take what they went and knock out anyone who stands in their way.

Don’t be surprised this sounds a little bit familiar to you. It bears more than a passing resemblance to the famous Stanford Marshmallow Study – where 4-year-old children were told that they could have a single marshmallow straight off the bat, but if they could wait until the researcher had completed his errand they could have two marshmallows.  When the kids who were unable to hold out in the Marshmallow Study graduated from high-school, they were profiled and found to be troubled, mistrustful, lacking in self-confidence, were easily distracted, were unable to subordinate immediate impulse to achieve longer term goals, were likely to have failed marriages and well, let’s just be frank, to end up miserable, lonely down-and-outs.

What is perhaps even more troubling than the above pathetic portrait is that the British study identified that it was essentially “bad” parenting that was responsible for the future delinquent behavior. “Impulsivity tends to vary over time based upon how you reward behavior and how those rewards are administered, “ explains De Moore, “what we think might be the case then, is that it is the way that sweets are given to kids every day by their parents which prevents them learning to be patient and this follows them through life.” When I asked Dr Moore whether it wasn’t simply that aggressive children were being mollified with candy by their parents, i.e. that the candy consumption was not responsible for aggression but rather a response to bad behavior he said that in their analyses they had controlled for aggression at the point of consumption which was then factored out of the relationship. So, good kids, it seems, are being turned into monsters with the simple recipe of a candy bar a day.

Few foods have been more vilified than candy; infused as it is with high-fructose corn syrup, artificial additives and saturated fat. Dr Moore asserts that there is nothing wrong with the candy itself (with regard to its affect on adult aggression), just in the way that it is doled out. But is he sure? Could there be a chemical reaction between the contents of candy and the brain which results in aggression? After all there is the convincing argument that sugary candy, sodas etc. makes children hyperactive. Similarly, studies suggest a link between artificial color – which is prolific in candy and hyperactivity. Simply put, he is somewhat sure. “Remember we were looking at instances of violence at age 34,” he said.  “We don’t think that there would be a lasting change due to the content of the confectionary that would follow people through their lives.”

So presumably, whilst I shouldn’t feed candy incessantly to my future kids, I can continue munching through my daily bag of M&Ms. Tough luck for them.

 
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    About Me

    Confused, perhaps. Well fed, definitely. A Malaysian of Tamil ethnicity, raised in London and now living in New York, I couldn’t have asked for a better culinary heritage. My Sunday roast is massaged with garlic, ginger and red chilies. My chicken soup is infused with heady coriander and the warmth of toasted cumin. My meatballs are transformed by a spattering of my mother’s curry powder and a glug of soy sauce.

    I live to eat and I eat to live. Quite literally. I write about food, who produces it, who cooks it and who eats it. Most recently I was the food editor for the London based culinary magazine, Fresh, and my first cookbook, Chop, Sizzle & Stir - the final word on stir frying - has recently hit the shelves. I have also written for numerous culinary and lifestyles magazines in the UK and in the Southeast Asia. When I'm not cooking, thinking about my next meal or eyeing up someone else's, I'm usually asleep!

    I’m fascinated by our culinary customs, traditions and innovations. The recipes we learn from our mothers, the treats we indulge in when no one’s looking and the meals we dish up for friends reveal who we are and who we want to be. So join me in this most delicious quest as I concoct, imbibe and ingest to understand that little bit more about my fellow diners!

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    Buy this must-have cookbook on Amazon. To read more about me and try out some of my recipes, visit my website www.nadia-arumugam.com