Let them (the grandkids) eat cake

Grannies are a soft touch when it comes to the sweet stuff.

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As most parents of young children will either know for certain, or at least strongly suspect, grannies are bad for the health of the kids.

In a sterling contribution to our bulging “No shit, Sherlock!” research file, boffins from a triad of US universities have put in the hard yards to tell the world that grandparents spoil children by giving them too many sugary treats.

This jaw-dropping revelation was published in this month’s issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association, an organisation we suspect has skin in the game here. 

Researchers from the universities of Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Michigan conducted an in-person, two-year study of 126 participants, to discover that 72% of mothers indicated that grandparents gave their young children excessive sugary foods and beverages, such as cakes, sweets, juices and soft drinks.

We reckon the real surprise here is that a whopping 28% of grandparents are trying to do the right thing and not currying favour with the ankle-biters by allowing unlimited access to the sweet stuff!

To be fair to the study, the researchers also examined which factors influenced mothers to talk with grandparents about the nutritional control, or lack of, being exercised.

What they found here was that although more than two-thirds of parents acknowledged that the grandparents were being a soft touch on the sweeties, only slightly more than half (51%) were prepared to address the issue.

Factors that influenced whether these difficult conversations were had included:

• The frequency at which the grandparents and children interacted.
• The mothers’ dependency on grandparents for childcare.
• The quantity of sugary foods and beverages provided by grandparents.
• The strength of the relationship between mothers and their children’s grandparents.

Also unsurprisingly, a separate survey conducted by the American Dental Association found that parents were more likely to address the issue with the own parents than with their partner’s parents.

Given the dental and other health issues associated with sugary indulgences, especially for young children, we accept that the US dentists have their hearts in the right place by drawing attention to this issue.

But, let’s face it, they’ve got Buckley’s chance of running a successful interference between a cute-as-a-bug three-year-old and a granny with a cookie jar.

For shiny white teeth, send stories to penny@medicalrepublic.com.au.