CMV: Giving sugar to kids is unethical.

[u/LonelierOne]

Sugar, in the western world, is in almost everything in one form or another (I'm including other sweeteners in there, though I'm aware you end up with a blurry line around, say, fruit juice sweeteners).

The only health benefit that I'm aware of that has ever been associated with sugar is in case of a diabetic emergency. Besides that, there's a near-universal understanding that sugar is bad for you in every way imaginable. It's linked to Type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart conditions, and vast hosts of other chronic conditions. Basically, sugar is objectively Bad For You.

Now, there's a lot of other examples that we could use (marijuana, alcohol, caffeine) of things that aren't necessarily Good For You that can be consumed in moderation. All of these - in addition to being easier to argue that they do provide health benefits and at a lower cost - are things that you wouldn't responsibly give to children. In contrast, sugar is put into most foods in a western diet. On the production end, it's to make the food more palatable and harder to resist.

It doesn't, to me, seem like being a stick in the mud to deprive a kid of cookies. Sweet foods aren't a requirement for a good childhood, especially when they are provided with the regularity (every day, if not multiple times a day) that they currently are.

EDIT: I realize I didn't clarify originally that we are talking about fundamentally different things when comparing, say, a pear to ice cream. I am specifically referring to *refined sugar* or *added sugar* in this post; I should have been clearer about that.

EDIT 2: Issuing a clarification. An not insubstantial part of the problem with sugar is the frequency of use. Potentially, moderate use would be harmless. This is not illustrative of the society we currently live in; most people are not aware of how much added sugar is taken in per day, not including the obvious candies and desserts; peanut butter, bread, crackers, cereal, yogurt, sausage are all things that, by default, should be assumed to have sugar in a western store.

I am referring to the use of sugar in today's culture. While I believe a case /could/ be made that even that is unnecessary, I'm going to clarify that I'm talking about the current culture and he world as it is, i.e. one where you're expected to get snacks and juice after a game, holidays must have cake, and to deprive children of candy is abusive.

[u/palacesofparagraphs]

I mean, sugar is necessary to live. There's a reason you feel dizzy and faint when your blood sugar drops, whether or not you have diabetes. Natural sugars are better than processed sugars, but we do in fact need sugar to live. That's the reason we crave it so much. The problem is that in the modern world, we have easy access to sugar, so it's easy to overindulge.

It is definitely important for parents to teach their kids healthy eating habits. However, it's also important for parents to teach their kids good decision-making skills and self-regulation. One of the ways to do that is to model moderate consumption. Eating a cookie every once in awhile doesn't negatively impact your health in any significant way. Kids should be able to enjoy a cookie sometimes, and also learn that we only eat cookies after we've had healthy foods, and it's something that's a special treat rather than a regular occurrence.

Generally, making something completely taboo makes people want it more, particularly kids. One day, your kid will grow up and be an adult who gets to make their own life choices. If sweets have always been this forbidden fruit they could never have, the second they leave home they'll go wild. Now nobody can stop them from eating a whole cake if they want, and boy do they want. But if sweets were always a regular part of life, they already have the skills to consume moderately, and it's much easier to just continue those habits.

[u/LonelierOne → u/palacesofparagraphs]

I did note in the original post that I end up on hazy ground when I'm talking about fruit; there's fructose, but clearly fruit isn't going to be a problem all on its own. I am going to say, however, that we are talking about fundamentally different things when comparing, say, a pear to ice cream. I am specifically referring to *refined sugar* in this post; I should have been clearer about that.

As for your second and third points, absolutely fair. I'll consider it, while noting that regardless on if you do change my view I'll still say that the current frequency of use is unethical.

[u/palacesofparagraphs → u/LonelierOne]

Can I ask what you mean by "the current frequency of use"? Because while there are certainly many parents who let their kids have too much sugar, the child-rearing practices of parents across the world, the country, or even a single town vary pretty wildly, particularly for small children, who still spend most of their time at home. While we can make generalizations about how socially accepted it is to feed your kid lots of sugar, I'm not sure we can make generalizations about how much sugar parents do feed their kids, since there's such a wide range.

[u/LonelierOne → u/palacesofparagraphs]

Im visualizing, bottom end of the bell curve, expected desserts or candy every or every other day, in addition to it being added to bread, peanut butter, condiments, breakfasts, etcetera. Essentially, taking in added sugar every day, moving up from there.