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My oldest child didn’t have sugar until he was a year old. I didn’t want him to have my sweet tooth. That, and the hyper-vigilant-crazy-first-time-parent thing. I was more lax with my younger two children but I still limit sugar considerably compared to most moms. The upside is that I don’t spend a ton on sweets. The downside? My middle child was a candy-sneaker and has three cavities. That begs the question: does forbidding sweets make children want it more? What if I convince them to send it to the Treat Fairy? What if I set a “sweet schedule?” What if I let them control their intake? Would my children really go nuts if I let them have free access to sweets? I’m too scared to experiment, but thankfully, someone else wasn’t.
Annie Sasseville at The Tranquil Parent decided to test just what I’ve been wondering. She began in July 2009 with her own 2.5 year-old daughter. Annie filled a drawer at her daughter’s level with jelly beans, chocolate peanut butter maltballs, generic M&Ms, plain chocolate chips, lollipops and gum drops, then let her daughter Jo have unlimited access to it – even at mealtimes. By September, she had some very enlightening observations to make about make sweets readily available to children – at least to hers, anyway. Here are some interesting things she found:
The novelty wore off in about a week. Jo visited the drawer several times a day at the beginning of the experiment, but by the end, would often go several days without going to it at all. As the experiment concluded, Jo would grab a few chocolate chips and be done for the day.
Requests for “real food” became more frequent. Before the experiment, Jo would really only request snacks and sweets. Since the experiment, things like soup, fish sticks, and grilled cheese have become the requested items.
Milk and water intake stayed the same. Calcium intake was a concern for Annie, but Jo continued to drink just as much milk and water as she had before the experiment began.
Sweets and “real food” became plate-mates. Jo would frequently eat her sweets with her dinner, even though she could have them any time of the day. Annie was fascinated to watch her eat in a sweet – dinner – sweet – dinner pattern.
Annie also discovered that her own sweets intake went down when they became less verboten to the family. Considering her daughter’s response, she decided to keep the sweets drawer. With the holidays upon us and the abundance of candy available, now’s a great time to try this experiment for yourself and your family. Do your kids integrate the goodies, or gobble them up?
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