The Candy Made Me Do It

Published on Monday, October 12, 2009, by James Norton / Edit Post

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.

ALLFood Media
POST A COMMENT |3 Comments

COMMENT

  • "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).

  • 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.

  • 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.