A new study has found that sugar is leading to children not developing memory skills properly. When it comes to added sugar, parents know that this is not the ideal ingredient for children to be consuming, but it can be hard to avoid. Mom may try to avoid as much added sugar as possible, but it can be difficult and a lot of parents know that “kids are kids” and will indulge them when they want a snack every now and then. A new study is showing just how important it may be to keep a closer eye on how much sugar they are consuming.
According to Science Daily and Eureka Alert, new research is showing that high consumption of sugar can affect learning and memory in children. Memory is an important part of child development, and it is a crucial skill for children to learn.
The new study looked at how high sugar consumption during childhood could affect the development of the brain. The brain is an organ that continues to develop into adulthood, and there was not much known about this direct relationship. Researchers knew that high sugar consumption could lead to obesity and heart disease, but this was a specific study looking at sugar and memory.
The research was led by a faculty member at the University of Georgia and they worked with the University of Southern California and they used rodents to complete their study. They found that daily consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages during adolescence was impairing memory performance later on in adulthood. They also found that this was likely due to changes in the gut when a child consumes too much sugar.
To complete the study, the young rats were given their normal food as well as an 11% sugar solution. This was comparable with other sugar-sweetened beverages that children usually consume, like fruit juices. They then had the rats complete a task that was completely dependant on memory. The task involved the rats remembering where they had seen an object before. They found that rats who were not given the added sugars were able to complete the tasks, but the rats who had the sugar struggled with it.
They did find that the sugar content had no effect on their recognition memory. The rats were able to recognize if they had seen an object before, but they were not able to figure out where they had seen it. The reasons to keep an eye on our child’s sugar consumption keep becoming increasingly important.
Sources: Science Daily, Eureka Alert