Sugar linked with mental problems in Norway study

[Herman Munster]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=healthNews&storyid=2006-09-28T204517Z_01_N28374556_RTRUKOC_0_US-SUGAR.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Oslo teens who drank the most sugary soft drinks also had more mental health problems such as hyperactivity and distress, Norwegian researchers reported on Thursday.

Their study of more than 5,000 Norwegian 15- and 16-year-olds showed a clear and direct association between soft drink intake and hyperactivity, and a more complex link with other mental and behavioral disorders.

They surveyed the students, asking them how many fizzy soft drinks with sugar they had a day, and then questions from a standard questionnaire used to assess mental health. The teens who reported skipping breakfast and lunch were among the heaviest soft drink consumers, Dr. Lars Lien and colleagues at the University of Oslo found.

"There was a strong association between soft drink consumption and mental health problems among Oslo 10th graders," they wrote in their report, published in the American Journal of Public Health. "This association remained significant after adjustment for social, behavioral and food-related disorders."

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

1. Too much sugar leads to hyperactivity?

Whoda thunk it?

[Karenina]

2. Not SUGAR...

ASPARTAME.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Also few sodas incorporate sugar anymore. Fructose/corn syrup.

Genetically-alterred corn syrup.

[Karenina]

6. Water+POISON

THAT is what in "soft" drinks and soda.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

7. My wife and I always joke about the sugar packets

White: Diabetes
Pink: Cancer
Blue: Heart attack
Yellow: All of the above

:D

[Karenina]

10. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Kinda corresponds with the "food packets" dropped in Afghanistan. Is it a processed peanut butter snack or a POOF YOU'RE DEAD?

DAMN, how I HATE these "interesting times" we live in. :cry:

[gully]

3. Well those with mental health issues do crave sugar b/c it increases

seratonin levels in the brain.

Just another take on this.

[girl gone mad]

5. HIstorically, Norwegians have had a low sugar diet,

since sugar cannot be grown on the island and importing it was expensive.

I wonder if sugar has greater physical and mental effects on a Norwegian than it would on say, someone living in a tropical climate where sugar and sweet fruits are a more significant part of the diet.

[TahitiNut]

11. "Island"?? What island?

As one who's of 50% Norwegian (100% Viking) ancestry, I'm not aware of Norway being an island. Sugar beets can be grown almost anywhere potatoes can be grown, can't they? Sugar cane isn't the only source of sugar.

Personally, I'd attribute the Norwegian dietary sensitivities to the consumption of lutefisk.


:evilgrin:

[DavidDvorkin]

8. This proves that hyperactive teens tend to drink more soft drinks

And skip breakfast.

Or maybe it proves that hyperactive teens who skip breakfast tend to drink more soft drinks.

Or possibly it proves that teens who skip breakfast tend to drink more soft drinks if they are also hyperactive.

Or . . .

Correlations can be so confusing!

[DireStrike]

9. Correlation is not causation

Just thought I'd repeat it. People forget.