Sugar Addiction Myth: Is My Child Addicted to Sugar?
Anne* is a mother of 3, ages 10, 8, and 5, who came to me for help managing sugar with her kids.
When I initially spoke with her, she sounded desperate.
I remember her telling me how she couldn’t keep candy in the house, or her kids would inhale it in one sitting. Cartons of ice cream would be gone overnight.
“Birthday parties are a nightmare”, she described.
She told me how she started avoiding social gatherings where she knew dessert would be included because that’s all her kids would be consumed with. Holidays like Halloween were filled with negotiation tactics to get her kids’ candy back from them.
It was becoming a strain on her, mentally.
When she started finding candy wrappers in her daughter’s backpack, she got worried.
“I just want my kids to be normal”, she told me in desperation. “All they seem to think about is candy and sugar.”
Her days were filled with ongoing requests for some kind of dessert from her kids. When she settled on having dessert on Saturday nights only, the kids would gorge themselves like they couldn’t stop.
“It’s getting out of control”.
She started taking drastic measures and stopped buying any type of desserts or sugar. While her kids drove a hard bargain, she stopped budging.
But no matter what she seemed to do, the obsession around sugar wouldn’t stop.
She came to me because she truly felt that her kids were addicted to sugar, and it was consuming their lives. Her kids didn’t seem to be able to think about or focus on anything outside of having dessert or eating candy.
She wanted them to enjoy normal kids’ activities, to be able to socialize without always thinking about sugar and sweets, but it seemed too far out of reach.
Her example is one of many that I’ve encountered with the families I work with, where kids seem increasingly preoccupied by sweets and candy.
As we went over things together, it was clear to me what was happening.
I told her that her kids were not in fact addicted to sugar but sugar-deprived.
These are two very different things; in fact, I would argue that sugar addiction in kids is not a real thing. In every situation I’ve encountered, most kids who have erratic, obsessive behavior around sugar and sweets are in fact, sugar-deprived.
So what does this mean?
Well first, I think it’s important to address the elephant in the room here. I know this is a controversial topic, but I want to help debunk many of the myths here that are keeping parents stuck when it comes to feeding their kids.
Can Kids Get Addicted to Sugar?
An addiction is defined as a “psychological and physical inability to stop consuming a chemical, drug, activity, or substance, even though it is causing psychological and physical harm.”
So in this frame of reference, can sugar qualify as a substance that kids may have a psychological or physical inability to stop consuming?
Is there something about sugar, sweets, and delicious desserts that kids seem to go crazy about that actually makes them addictive?
Can the consumption of sugar become so great that it’s actually psychological and physical harm?
Many would argue that the answer to these questions is YES.
There’s been a lot of buzz around this topic lately, and quite frankly, it’s disheartening to see how the confusion that has ensued among parents as a result.
You’ve no doubt heard these statements: “Once your child has sugar, they’ll become addicted for life! Solution - don’t let them have it!”
Or, “The harmful effects of sugar on your child’s health can’t be overstated. Minimize their sugar intake to ensure that you’re raising a healthy child!”
OR what about this: “Sugar is as addictive as cocaine!”
Wait, WHAT?
People have actually been promoting this idea that sugar has the same toxic effects on the brain and body as someone who might be addicted to illegal street drugs.
Further, people will take it one step further to throw scientific literature in your face, to somehow prove that these confusing claims about the effects of sugar are true.
If you’re a parent who’s weeding through toxic diet culture that has infiltrated child feeding, these messages can undoubtedly be confusing and misleading.
You might wonder if it’s okay for your child to eat desserts or have the cake and candy at the birthday parties.
You might feel fearful about your child developing a harmful relationship with sugar and wonder what the best approach really is?
Let’s look at this issue a little closer and peel back the layers to see what is really happening here.
There are many factors that are influencing fear around eating sugar. Diet culture is a major force that is driving much of the misconceptions around sugar and kids.
What Does Diet Culture Say About Sugar?
In reality, diet culture has distorted what it means to raise a healthy child.
It’s created this impossible standard that says in order to raise a healthy child, your child should eat minimal to no sugar, especially if you want to prevent health issues down the road.
Sugar and processed food are demonized, and parents feel guilty or ashamed when their kids want to eat these things.
Health is watered down to the very foods we put into our mouths or what we feed our children, but this is grossly oversimplified.
Diet culture says that sugar is poison and to avoid giving it to your kids. It also says that if your children are hooked on sugar, they’ll be unhealthy for life.
Diet culture says that because sugar is harmful, it should be tightly controlled and regulated.
As parents, there’s no doubt we’ve been slammed with fear-mongering messages around kids and sugar - am I right?
Things that say our children’s health is doomed if they eat too much candy, or that too many sweets can put them at risk for diabetes and “obesity”.
There is SO. MUCH. FEAR.
Many of the parents I work with are overwhelmed in this culture of feeding kids and are doing the only thing they feel they can do to help reign in those fears and anxieties: control what their kids eat.
The problem with this is that we are losing sight of the long-term goals with feeding kids: Ultimately, we are not going to be there for them to make all their food decisions.
We won’t always be able to tell them what they can and can’t eat, nor can we prevent them from eating foods of their choosing.
So controlling the foods they eat may be a short-term solution for us now, but it does nothing for teaching a child how to be a competent eater who is able to self-regulate their intake and enjoy a variety of foods.
The issue is, no matter how much a parent may try to control the situation or prevent access to sugar, kids are inevitably going to cross paths with it in some shape or form: be it at school, birthday parties, holidays, and more.
Is Sugar Addictive?
How addictive is sugar? I mean, really? What evidence can substantiate this belief?
These toxic claims by diet culture are based on alleged scientific findings that food, especially sugar, is in fact, addictive.
But let’s dig a little deeper to understand the full picture and the context of these claims, shall we?
In 2007, a study was published, titled, “Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake”. Researchers set out to investigate their question as to whether or not sugar can be a substance of abuse and lead to a “natural” form of addiction.
Their findings, based on their animal studies on rats, suggested that “intermittent access to sugar can lead to behavior and neurochemical changes that resemble the effects of a substance of abuse.”
Based on the evidence from rat experiments, the researchers concluded that access to sugar was able to produce a “dependency” in rats; furthermore, this was evidence enough to say that sugar in fact, can be addictive.
However, when we look at the context of the actual study, we can see that the rats used in this experiment were actually STARVED and deprived of food daily for 12 hours daily before exposure to a sugar solution.
This small detail and overlooked fact actually highlights an important truth about sugar and the way our brains and bodies work: Restriction and intermittent access is actually what triggered the response seen in the rats studied.
They were preoccupied with sugar when it was available because they were STARVING.
After abstaining from sugar, food-deprived rats preferred the high-sucrose food rewards even MORE.
Coincidence? I think not.
Other research has claimed that sugar is noteworthy as a potentially addictive substance because it releases dopamine “aka: the feel good hormones” in the brain and that it elicits neurobiological changes similar to those seen in drug addiction.
Indeed, eating sugar has shown to “light up” spots in the brain that also become active when certain drugs are ingested.
Namely, the pleasure centers of the brain have shown to be activated when eating sugar, similarly to what is seen with drug addiction. So does this mean that sugar is addictive?
Here’s the thing. Suggesting that this is evidence that sugar is addictive is a gross oversimplification of how the brain and body work.
Do you know what other things activate the pleasure center of the brain? This includes things like hugging, laughing, listening to music, and love-making. Does that mean these things are addictive, too, in the same context and sense that drugs are addictive?
More recent research has actually debunked these claims and called out the faulty conclusions that have made these claims with limited information. It has, in fact, been concluded that little evidence supports sugar as an addictive substance and that the science of sugar addiction at present is not compelling.
The binge-link behaviors around sugar occur only in the context of intermittent access to sweets, not the neurochemical effects of sugar.
The notion that sugar is addictive, poisonous and toxic are damaging myths that have been perpetuated by diet culture.
Research has been misinterpreted and packaged in a way that confuses the common consumer and is pushed by the mainstream media in a way that entices more views, clicks, etc.
So how can we take this information and apply it to how we feed our own kids?
What do these important conclusions about sugar addiction mean for how we should approach sugar with our children?
Sugar Addiction Versus Sugar Deprivation
So what do we really see that triggers preoccupation and obsession with sugar in kids? Is it the foods itself, like candy and desserts?
What we see from research is actually that feeding approaches with kids are what primarily shape how a child feels about those foods, like restricting access to these foods.
In actuality, the reason that your child might not be able to moderate or regulate their intake of sugar is not because they’re addicted to it but rather, because they’re deprived from it.
Deprivation and restriction from any foods, whether intentional or not, can cause a person (or child in this case) to become more preoccupied with those very foods.
If a child has not been allowed to eat sweets or foods that are laden with sugar, they will never know or learn how to self-regulate them.
This also creates a feeling of scarcity around those foods, which triggers a “feast or famine” mindset.
When a child knows that sweets or desserts are withheld or doesn’t know the next time they’ll be available, they’ll be more likely to binge on those foods or overeat them when they do have access to them.
This can look like erratic eating behaviors that are undoubtedly concerning for parents to see.
If your child doesn’t have access to sugar in your home, they will cross paths with it at some point, no matter how much you try to control it or prevent it.
They may encounter it at birthday parties, holidays, at their friends’ houses or school functions.
When they do get to have it, they might display behaviors like:
Eating multiple sittings in one sitting
Not able to focus on other things beside the food or sweets that are available
A sense of urgency while eating
Meltdowns, anger, or frustration when they’re unable to continue eating the foods they want
Overeating, or eating in the absence of hunger
In response to these behaviors, parents might in fact further restrict access to sugar because they fear it’s the substance itself (sugar) causing these reactions.
But like we saw in the explanation of the rat experiments above: sugar becomes more desirable when it’s restricted.
The natural response to the claims that sugar is addictive is abstinence, just like with drug addiction.
But because sugar is food, not an addictive substance, abstinence actually makes the problem worse, especially when feeding kids.
What I’m getting at here is this: your child may have erratic behaviors around sugar because they’re not exposed to it ENOUGH.
I realize I’m going out on a limb with this because this is counterculture and against everything diet culture purports about sugar and kids.
I know that this is unpopular opinion, but from my personal and professional experience, I’ve seen this hold true.
Responses to Fear Around Sugar
The truth of the matter is that diet culture wants you to fear feeding your kids.
It wants you to hypercontrol their food and be overfocused on what your child is or isn’t eating, rather than thinking about how you can help them have a positive relationship with food.
I’ve seen firsthand the effects on mothers who have power struggles with their kids over food.
I’ve worked with kids who have disordered eating and anxiety around food. I hear from mothers who are fearful for their child’s health and mentally strained when it comes to feeding their family.
All of these unnecessary stressors and fears around food and eating, especially with SUGAR, create chaos. It can be a trigger for an unhealthy relationship with food that cycles through generations and continues for years and years to come.
The natural tendency in these situations is to find something that can be controlled. But when we try to control our kids’ intake, we are controlling the wrong thing. It’s like trying to control the direction of the wind: it’s aimless effort that only results in frustration and chaos.
We also can’t negate the research that has shown the negative impact of restrictive or controlling feeding practices.
Studies have found that restrictive feeding practices may serve to promote a child’s intake of restricted foods, as well as negative feelings about eating those foods.
This means that trying to restrict a child’s access to certain food, like sugar and sweets, is most likely to backfire.
They will grow up with an increased desire for those foods and likely feel more negative about themselves and eating.
These findings suggest that efforts aimed at fostering healthful patterns of eating among children should not restrict children’s intake from palatable energy-dense foods, but rather provide variety and moderation in children’s eating.
Sugar “Addiction” Symptoms - The Effects of Restricting Sweets
Drug dependence and addiction is characterized by compulsive, sometimes uncontrollable behaviors that happen at the expense of other activities and intensify with repeated access.
When we look at a child who has restricted or limited access to sugar, we actually observe similar behaviors: compulsive around sweets, erratic eating, and an inability to focus on other activities due to preoccupation with desserts.
It’s easy to see how the similar behaviors could miscategorize a sugar “addiction”.
Again, parents who are fearful that their kids may in fact be addicted to sugar will take action to prevent that from happening.
Like other substances that might be addicting, the solution may seem to be abstinence from those foods.
If something is addictive, then it should be avoided at all costs to avoid problematic behaviors, right?
However, this is where parents are often misled.
Sugar is not an addictive substance.
So abstinence from sweets and sugar is not a solution. In fact, this will only make food behaviors WORSE in kids.
These are some of the signs you might observe in your children when sugar and sweets are restricted:
An obsession with food, especially desserts and sweets
Inability to concentrate or focus on other things that should be of interest to them
Preoccupation with sweets and concern about the next time they might be able to eat them
Persistent questioning for more desserts
Meltdowns or tantrums when sweets are not allowed
Overeating or binging on sweets when there is access
Hoarding or sneaking food, especially desserts and sweets
While these signs might be misinterpreted as an addiction to sugar or the foods themselves, they are actually a symptom of a bigger problem: restricted access to these foods, or an approach to food that has created scarcity around having these foods.
Fortunately, by addressing the problem, these behaviors can be entirely reversible to help support a child in developing a positive relationship with food.
How to Break Sugar “Addiction”
When I worked with Anne, we came up with a plan for her to implement in her home to help eliminate the scarcity around sugar for her kids.
Gradually, she was able to give her kids more access to sweets and desserts in a way that helped them feel more relaxed about sugar and less obsessive about eating them.
She called me in tears one day to happily report how her kids started to leave parts of their desserts on their plates.
Where they once seemed to inhale anything sugar with little regard to how it felt in their bodies, they were now better able to self-regulate what they needed and truly listen to what their bodies wanted.
In the absence of scarcity around sweets and with regular access to sugar foods, kids have permission to listen to their bodies when eating. This is fundamental for them to build confidence in their own bodies and to have a healthy relationship with food.
If your kids have seemed obsessive with sugar and sweets, I have good news for you: you too can support their innate abilities to self-regulate their intake and enjoy a variety of foods, including desserts.
If you’ve found yourself in this position with your own kids, please hear me out: this is NOT your fault. There is nothing wrong with your children.
This is the fault of a destructive diet culture that has caused you to fear the wrong things, like eating sugar.
Diet culture is to blame for creating the beliefs that your worth and abilities as a parent are tied to the foods your child eats or the size of her body.
All of this is WRONG and has made feeding much more difficult and complicated than it should be.
You can reclaim the joy that should be part of eating and feeding your kids by taking a stand against diet culture and freeing yourself from its destructive lies. By doing this, your family can enjoy food again without feeling fear or stress.
In the case of sweets, there is absolutely hope for helping your child make peace with sugar.
Remember that breaking sugar “addiction” is about allowing MORE access to the foods that your child seems obsessive about.
Here are some important steps to keep in mind if you’re wanting to troubleshoot your approach to sugar with your kids:
Mindset:
Addressing the question of how to stop a sugar addiction comes with changing your mindset around the real issues at hand.
Keep in mind that the belief that sugar is toxic, poisonous or addictive is a huge part of diet culture.
Understanding that sugar is in fact, not a dangerous or addictive substance that needs to be tightly controlled is critical to help you approach things differently with your kids.
Trust that when your children have regular and consistent access to these foods, they will feel more relaxed about eating them. When sweets aren’t scarce, your kids will feel less preoccupied by them.
2. Language:
How we talk about sugar with our kids is as equally as important.
If we talk about sweets in a way that creates scarcity, this will create a sense of urgency in kids to access them and eat them.
We also don’t want to create any unnecessary guilt or shame around sweets through the language we use. Try to avoid polarizing terms, like “good”, “bad”, “healthy”, or “unhealthy”.
Even labeling food as “dessert”, or “treats” can elevate these foods, making them more enticing for kids. Instead, just label things for what they are when talking about it with your kids, like, lollipops, candy, ice cream, cake, etc.
We want our kids to know and trust that all foods are always part of their futures.
3. Approach:
If your kids are obsessed with eating sweets, this could be a big indicator that they need more access to these foods. But how do you implement this?
I encourage parents to start by serving dessert more frequently WITH meals, like allowing your kids to pick out some candy to have with lunch or to have cookies with dinner.
More exposure to these foods within a consistent snack and meal schedule can help kids feel more relaxed about having these foods, especially when they understand that more will be available.
Having desserts alongside other foods they’re used to eating can also help them neutralize these foods.
To help you better navigate this, be sure to check out this post: “Kids Desserts: Healthy Habits to Help Your Kids Manage Sweets and Treats”.
4. Frequency:
How much sugar is okay?
Many parents ask this question and wonder how frequently they should offer desserts to their kids.
While this answer may look different for everyone, I can tell you that your kids might need to have dessert more frequently than what you feel comfortable with.
If your children are particularly obsessive with desserts and sweets, they may need to have them on a daily basis with their scheduled meals and snacks in order to break the feelings of scarcity around them.
I can assure you, that even at this frequency, your children’s health will not be jeopardized.
Again, it’s important to keep the big picture goals in mind: you want your kids to develop a normal relationship with food and not grow up to binge on sweets.
In order to support your kids toward this, they need repeated opportunities to learn how to self-regulate sweets and ongoing exposure.
Here’s another post that can help you better understand how to approach this: “Kids & Candy: Growing Healthy Children Need to Eat Candy, Too”
5. Awareness:
Lastly, it’s super important to be aware of your own thoughts and feelings as you help your kids normalize their relationship with sugar.
Does it make you feel uncomfortable when your child is eating dessert?
Does exposing your kids to sugar trigger any resolved fears or anxieties within yourself?
If so, these can be helpful clues about areas that you may need some more TLC around.
Having awareness of your own feelings can help you address these things so you’re not projecting them on your kids.
Ultimately, any healing work that you do within yourself in regards to your own relationship with food and your body will only help support a positive trajectory for your children and their future.
If you’re needing more support around this area or an individualized plan to help you troubleshoot this with your own children, please connect with me today.
I’d love to hear your story and guide you and your family to a more peaceful relationship with all foods, including sugar, so you can have the mental energy to focus on other things in your life.
I’ll also be hosting a virtual workshop on how to simplify sugar with your kids and end the craze around desserts. If you’re interested in learning more, be sure to sign up below for the waitlist!
Keeping the Long Term Goals in Mind
More than ever before, kids need to trust that all food is safe and that they have reliable access to it. This is foundational for raising healthy children to respect their bodies and have a positive relationship with food.
I know it can be hard to remember this when diet culture is spewing lies about food everywhere you turn. To help you cut through the clutter and turn down the noise, keep the big picture in mind when you’re feeding your kids.
Remember that feeding our children is a long-term game, one that should be based on trust and unconditional love.
Most importantly, keep in mind that the most effective way to raise healthy children is to focus on building a trusting feeding relationship with them, one where your kids can trust you to do your part with feeding, and where you can trust your kids to do their part with eating.
This is a big responsibility, and it can definitely be overwhelming at times.
Please remember that you aren’t on this journey alone. Reach out for help when you need it and connect with the support you need to stay the course. You’ve got this, mama!
*Story shared with permission, name changed to protect privacy
