Soda Babies and Self-Control
Posted by Rachel on:
The other day I saw a father give a baby a sip of soda. A baby! I try not to judge other parents and how they raise their children, but I couldn't but help feel that it was some form of child abuse. As the baby looked at her father he smiled back, reassuring her that this sugary drink is really good and tasty. The father then gave the baby a bottle of milk (which seems like the more appropriate thing to do), but the expression on the child's face was clearly disappointed and confused.
Yesterday, I read this interesting article on boingboing. A psychologist Walter Mischel left pre-schoolers alone in a room with a marshmallow as an experiment (see video below). He gave them a choice between eating one marshmallow right away, or resisting temptation (for a few minutes) to receive two marshmallows.
It turned out that 20% of the children who resisted would go on to get higher SAT scores, have more friends, and have fewer anger issues. The article was mainly about the possible links between pollution and crime (and marshmallows), but I am interested in this kind of 'self-control' as it relates to consuming less sugar. I know that I want to teach my children the benefits of having restraint - especially when it comes to sugar.
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2 Comments
Comment by Anonymouse on
Forgive us our sins against our offspring!
Comment by Tracey on
Terrible, but then my parents would give me a sip of beer which is only slightly more 'healthy' with no HFCS. And of course, I can't resist temptation at all...marshmallows yes, temptation no.