Reasons Why Your Child Craves Sweets ?

Sweets can be harmful to your health. Read on to know ‘Why your child loves sweets so much’?

Leave a jar of sweets open in the child’s sight and it will all vanish in no time. Most kids go gaga over sweets and Ayurvedic doctors say it’s not their fault! The secret to their affinity for sweets lies deep in their DNA. 

Many parents come complaining to me about their kid’s love for sweets. Three or thirteen, kids simply can’t keep their hands off the candy jar. It ruins their appetite and affects their dental health; it messes with their gut, causes worms, and does all kinds of harm to the body.

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But neither scolding nor conditioning seems to work. So, Ayurvedic doctors like me often get swamped with questions from worried parents. The most common ones are – ‘Why my kid loves sweets so much? Is something wrong with my kid? How do I stop my kid from having more sweets? Sir, please tell me a trick to stop my kid from having more sweets’.

Well, to answer all such questions I am penning this blog that will help you understand the reason for their love. Understanding the reason for their behavior will help you alter it in a better way! 

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5 reasons Why your child loves sweets so much

Don’t blame the kid, blame the genes and human instincts. Check out these 5 mind-blowing logic behind their love for sweets and you will have a lot to think about.

1. They are born to love sweet 

Babies have an innate affinity for sweet taste because of the predominant sweet taste of their first food – their mother’s milk. That means in most cases, the love for sweet taste is inborn.

They also have very sensitive taste buds. A baby’s mouth has more nerve endings per square millimeter than any other part of the body. So, any new food could mean an explosion of flavors that they might not like.

2. It’s in their genes

This one is hard to believe until you hear the explanation. Since the time of evolution, children had an inbuilt survival instinct. They searched for energy-giving high-calorie foods. 

Humans learned that sweet foods are energy-rich foods good for their survival while bitter ones could be a potential poison! That’s how humans have developed an affinity for sweet taste and repulsion for bitter taste. Hence, your child’s love for sweets is wired into their DNA. 

3. Their body keeps craving sweets

Their love for sweet tastes is not because of a devious mind. But it’s their body that loves high-energy foods, especially throughout their growing stage. The body demands calories and energy. Earlier, the sources of these sweet, rich-calorie foods were mostly fruits.

But today the gallery of sweet tastes is filled with options, mostly unhealthy. And that creates chaos. They are meant to love sweets, the sweeter the better. That’s why today’s kids have moved on from the fruits over to the candies and ice-creams. 

4. It’s an antidote to bad taste

Remember, when you lured your kid into having the medicine followed by a spoonful of sugar?  Children are attracted to sweet tastes because it helps them get rid of the bad taste. 

5. It’s a pain reliever

Sweet foods work well as a mood enhancer. But do you know they are also potential pain relievers? Many mothers feed their little ones a spoonful of sugar when they get a bad booboo. And that’s not just to stop the kid from crying but also to relieve the child’s pain. 

There are several research that shows the pain-relieving activity of sugar in children. In fact, many hospitals put a sweet-tasting liquid in the baby’s mouth during circumcisions or ear piercing to lessen the pain. 

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Then and now: the love for sweet taste 

The attraction of sweet foods was good for the children of the past. They were attracted to energy-rich foods starting from breast milk to fruits, honey, and dates. In ancient times, there was no mass production of unhealthy snacks to binge on. Natural foods are satiating and they ate only as much as their body needed.

But today, the scenario has changed drastically. The love for sweet taste persisted through centuries. But today the market is ripe with all kinds of processed foods rich in added sugars or sugar substitutes. These unhealthy sweets attract little ones more than healthier options.

This mismatch in the child’s biology and the prevalent food environment is to blame for their unhealthy binging.

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Effects of their sweet foods

Eating a diet rich in added or processed sugars affects a child’s risk of obesity. That’s why it is very important for parents to keep a check on the sugar intake in their child’s diet.

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Tricks to control your child’s Sweet Treats

• Develop a habit of eating fruits right from the time they start eating solids.
• Never trick or treat them with food.
• Kids learn from what they see. Make sure you eat healthy too for them to follow.
• Keep the sweet treats small. Break the big chocolates into parts, and cut the cake into smaller halves.
• Don’t attach emotional baggage to the food. Going the extra mile with all the décor and glamour over the unhealthy treats just makes it more difficult for you to control your urges. So, be it a pie or cake, keep it very plain and simple.

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Finally, Why your child loves sweets so much?

Shouting or smashing your kid for their sweet cravings is not the correct way for something that’s engraved in their DNA. Understand the psychology and make them understand the good and bad effects of their choices. Slowly, switch the sweet treats for healthy tricks. Sweet is important but from the right sources.