In the latest edition of “is it causality or correlation?” DailyFinance notes a British study that states in part:
“69 percent of the participants who had committed violence by age 34 had eaten sweets or chocolate nearly every day during childhood.”
The post goes on to present a somewhat credible theory to support the finding: When you deprive kids of nutrients, they’re less able to function effectively and more prone to making mistakes. Such as whaling on their fellow schoolchildren.
Research 101: Correlation does not imply causation especially in situations where other factors are likely to influence events. To say candy causes criminal behavior is absurd at best. Of course if your a governmental official trying to find a basis for taxing certain goods or control behavior, then findings like these are to be expected.
It probably has more to do with the fact that if the parents aren’t paying attention to their kids eating habits, they aren’t paying much attention to their other behavior either.
“somewhat credible theory” – uh, check your math on that. As mentioned above, statistics 101 – correlation does not mean causation.
Not only that, the consumption record is self reported and not done contemporaneously (they were polled years later).