kids eating sweets

Allow lollies before chocolate. Lollipops and other hard candies are generally low in fat or fat free, have few calories, and take a long time to eat.

A new study suggest daily sugar makes kids more prone to violence as adults.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Kids eating sweets every day may be headed for problems that go beyond extra visits to the dentist, according to a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The researchers, from Cardiff University in Wales, started with the proven premise that sugar consumption in children is linked to behavior problems and heightened aggression—that much every parent and pediatrician knows well. But the Welsh scientists took a more expansive view, questioning whether eating sweets in childhood has any long-term effects on adult behavior—specifically aggressive behavior. What they found, after sifting through data from the 1970 British Cohort Study, could be enough to make you nix Snickers forever: Among the17,500-participants in the study, those who as kids were eating and sweets every day were much more likely to have been convicted for violent behavior at age 34 than those who didn’t eat sweets daily.

The study authors aren’t certain what specifically is behind the link. But one explanation, they have said, is about delayed gratification. “Giving children sweets and chocolate regularly may stop them learning how to wait to obtain something they want,” the lead study author said. “Not being able to defer gratification may push them toward more impulsive behavior, which is strongly associated with delinquency.”

It goes without saying that an occasional sweet will not a delinquent make. But it seems likely that limiting chocolate and candy now makes for less scary behavior later. Not to mention, less-scary dental bills.

Here’s what you can do to teach your kids delayed gratification when it comes to candy and sweets—and (bonus!) raise healthier, less violent people with fewer cavities as a result: