Did you "really" like sweets as a kid ? (addictive personalities)

[AceOvArts]

I was thinking about this as I have 3 kids myself and noticed that one in particular really likes sweets. I dont mean like your average kid, i mean he will look at the sweet, almost lovingly bofore eating it and really savour it, talks about sweets alot etc. would eat them over "real" food and would say its probably his best thing in the world. He is only 4 yrs old and has an identical twin brother that, though he likes sweets, doesnt seem to be nearly as obsessed.
It got me thinking that drugs are somewhat like sweets for adults really and I wonder if there is a connection between behavior like the kid in the sweetshop and addictive personalities.
Though this is probably true of most humans, were any of you (or maybe a friend you know), as kids, in a way, addicted to anything.
Did you over eat as a kid? Were given too many sweets, or maybe given sweets as a reward ?
Or obessive about anything else you can think of that lead you down the path to addiction ?
Thanks for your thoughts

[redpoppy]

OH MY GOD YES!!

SWIM was extremely addicted to sweet things especially chocolates. obsessively so. secretly bought them with any spare coins she could get her hands on and once away from home would eat many bars of chocolate a day. kept the energy up apprently. But then sugar is a drug no? I thought i heard somewhere it was.

In terms fo addiction, i think teaching kids (once they're old enough) that so long as you do not ever become dependent on anything (other than stuff thats inevitable, food, air etc.) is a good way of going about things. sure TRY a cigarette but don't become dependent on them. Relating addiction to neediness can make it seem less appealing.

Ah yes, Look at this:

http://www.rotten.com/library/crime/drugs/sugar/

[AceOvArts]

Effectively "everything" we ingest is a drug so to speak, though drug in the loosest of terms. There is the sugar rush and release of endorphines resulting from chocolate of course. But I wonder if you can tell at an early stage if someone will develop an addictive nature.
Sure information is the best thing you can use to try and stop people from becoming an addict but I think a huge part of it is already written in our genetic makeup.

[IHrtHalucingens]

SWIM was known to drop $50 on candy cigarettes from the icecream man in one spree. They were 25 cents for 20 so if my calculations are correct thats 4000 candy cigarettes. SWIM ate these all in one day, got very sugar high and had a great time fore a little bit, then got very sick for a very long time. He then switched to warheads and fireballs, buying cases at a time. Candy was SWIMs drugs back then, now he spends that kind of money on drugs and rarely eats candy.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Ahh.. candy cigarettes. Good memories!

[AceOvArts]

are you allowed to post prices of sweets ?

[Micklemouse]

No, & no sources either! Sugar & chocolate (even the fat laden gak that passes for chocolate in Briton - any ideas on extraction folks?) are both psychoactives, & highly addictive & therefore should be covered by the Rules...

[old hippie 56]

Growing up in a family of great cooks, there was always batches of homemade sweets, especially around the holidays. One favorite candy of all the kids was the brandy filled chocolates. We were all addicted to them.

[funkcentralstation]

Kids that really really love their sweets often have a problem with impulse control. This can be a sign of a so-called addictive personality. A bizarre study on impulse control was done in the 60s, wherein a kid was left alone in a room with a marshmallow. The kid was given the option of eating the marshmallow right then and there or waiting for the researcher to come back into the room, in which case the child was given two mallows. An amusing video was made of a recreation of the study (link below). These children were kept tabs upon throughout their scholastic careers. The kids that ate the mallow immediately were found to have poorer grades and test scores than kids that were able to control their impulses. As for someone who isn't me, he has more of a savory, salty, buttertooth than a sweet tooth. However, when he uses heroin or morphine, the craving for sugar is almost as bad as the opiate craving. What does that say about swim?

Marshmallow Test URL:
Can't post links, so if interested the video is called "Kids and the Marshmallow Test"

[nnizzle]

SWIM used to hate chocolate as a child, but now as an "adult" he is much more apt to grab a candy bar when available.

[Phenoxide]

Loved sweets as a kid, still do. It's a miracle I still have anything even remotely resembling teeth. Wasn't an obsessive thing, but I'm sure over the years it developed into a passive addiction. As a teenager I figured out that binging on lucozade tablets (near pure dextrose) was a much stronger and more efficient way to get that sugar rush. I tried substituting in more artificial sweeteners so that I could satisfy the cravings without succumbing to diabetes, but that's just left me with a major diet coke addiction. I'm convinced the diet coke is worse for me than sugar ever was. Aspartame has a lot to answer for. I definitely would say I have an addictive personality, so maybe there is a correlation.

The marshmellow test made me laugh but I don't think it's a good model for addictive behavior. Some addicts are perfectly capable of deferring gratification if they know the eventual outcome will be much more satisfying. It only gets hard when it's a choice between drugs and no drugs.

[funkcentralstation]

Originally Posted by Phenoxide

The marshmellow test made me laugh but I don't think it's a good model for addictive behavior. Some addicts are perfectly capable of deferring gratification if they know the eventual outcome will be much more satisfying. It only gets hard when it's a choice between drugs and no drugs.

True enough, but every dope fiend swim knows has a hard time planning ahead and making sure they have enough junk to stay well and not get sick. That has to do with impulse control. Once a craving hits, it's a matter of willpower, and kids with poor impulse control are more susceptible to addictive behavior patterns. And once a junkie realizes he's out of junk, his first impulse is to cop and get well, not kick and get sick. It's hard to kick, and oh so easy to just get out there and score again.

[Grey Cardboard Man]

Due to a medical condition, I was encouraged to eat not only fatty foods--the sort that most people would try to limit their intake of, due to either concerns about getting fat or medical concerns--but told to consume sweet sweets as often as possible in large volumes!

I have a huge sweet tooth now and, whilst I wouldn't say that drugs are sweets for adults, (I still love sweets and might even be able to temporarily replace normal food with them if I really wanted to, but it's their taste and no rush or lasting sensation of euphoria that sweets give me; good food cooked well is also something I would enjoy eating thoroughly, too, for it's just something to savor and, perhaps guiltily for some, indulge in) I love 'em!

All sorts of desserts and delicious, sugar-filled foods from fruits to chocolates to boiled sweets, I wouldn't say I need to survive, but it's certainly nicer to have them in my life and available for gobbling!

Are you worried about your child, the one who's fascinated with sweets?

[health123]

Well I can sort of relate to that, I have a sweet tooth. I really crave for candies. There are days really that I would go out just to buy candies. For me candy is my stress reliever and my anti-deppressant, hehehe...

Eating candy makes me relax and gives me some kind of high, can't live without it...

[MeasuringPhilosophism]

I was once the fat kid that attended eight year old birthday-parties that also ate most of the savories. I wasn't a fan of sweets either..

[dyingtomorrow]

SWIM ate almost exclusively candy and cereal until he was like 17 years old (but was still very skinny). To the extreme point where he prolly stunted his growth; all the men on both sides of SWIM's family are 6'2-6'3, and SWIM is only a little over 6'0. After that he almost completely abstained from sugar until he became a heroin addict at age 23. Heh, at one point during his addiction he survived about 6 months straight eating 90% 50 cent Zebra Cakes and cheap orange soda when he was broke and didn't have any extra money for food.

I'm surprised Spucky isn't on this thread, I've seen some of his posts about the correlation between addiction and sugar.