Daily chocolates in childhood linked to aggressive behavior in later life

Dr Simon Moore, the study’s lead researcher stated, “It is about the way rewards are administered in their developmental environment and how that teaches them to make decisions in the future. If they are aggressive and get a sweet as a way of diverting that behavior that will nurture a more violent disposition.”

Analysis of the 1970 British cohort study
In an effort to understand the relationship between a child’s diet and aggressive behavior in later life, the researchers from the Cardiff University analyzed data of almost 17,500 children through the 1970 British cohort study.

They monitored them further at different stages of their lives and assessed factors like health, education and social and economic backgrounds, parental upbringing along with sweet consumption.

The researchers noted that 69 percent of the subjects who were violent between the ages of 29 and 34 had eaten sweets and chocolate nearly every day during childhood, as opposed to 42 percent who were not inclined towards aggressive behavior.

The link between candy consumption and violence was consistent even after factors that trigger violence were taken into account.

Moore said, “Our favored explanation is that giving children sweets and chocolate regularly may stop them learning how to wait to obtain something they want.

“Not being able to defer gratification may push them toward more impulsive behavior, which is strongly associated with delinquency.”

Need for further research
Although the findings are interesting the researchers feel the association between sweets consumption and violent behavior needs further assessment.

Rob Welch, a professor of food, science and nutrition, stated that the study revealed an “interesting possible relationship” of the effects of childhood diet on a hostile attitude in later life, but it still required more information.

He added, “I would suggest there are a lot more factors involved in whether people become violent in adulthood other than consuming sweets and to try and blame it all on the sweets is, frankly, non-sensical.”

However, Julian Hunt, director of communications at the Food and Drink Federation has a conflicting view. According to him, "Anti-social behavior stems from deep-rooted social and environmental factors, such as poor parenting and a deprived upbringing, and is not linked to whether or not you ate sweeties as a kid. How anyone could leap to such a conclusion is beyond me."

The study is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.