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Sweet Tooth May Signal Future Addiction
Kids with an extra-sweet tooth may be at higher risk for future problems with alcoholism and addiction, a new study published by the journal Addiction says.
Or does it? What the scientists found was that kids who had a close relative who was an alcoholic preferred sweeter drinks than kids who did not have a drunk in the family. Children with symptoms of depression also preferred the sweetest drinks.
Repeat after me, Science People: correlation does not equal causality.
Even the scientists seemed confused about their findings. Sugar triggers a lot of the same reward centers in the brain that alcohol does. Finding that kids with close family ties to that addiction and a tendency towards depression prefer sweets suggests that they may grow into adults who prefer booze.
Past studies have found that sugar acts as a mood lifter for children, and that depressed kids need higher doses of sugar to get the same happy boost that healthy kids get from a small amount.
But does that mean those kids are more prone to alcoholism, or just that they’re more used to having sugar now? One of the lead researchers said the difference might be caused by differences in how much candy parents allow their kids to have. Perhaps alcoholic parents are more lenient about sweet treats? Who knows?
This is another one of those studies that poses more questions than it answers. There are some promising early results there for new research avenues – it would be a huge blessing to be able to identify people with a genetic tendency toward alcoholism before they start drinking.
Photo: Terren
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1 Comment
[...] Sweet Tooth May Signal Future Addiction: Kids with an extra-sweet tooth may be at higher risk for future problems with alcoholism and addiction, a new study published by the journal Addiction says. [...]
Sierra Black Writing — ChildWild commented on Feb 20 10 at 11:14 amAdd your take:
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