The Short-Term Effects of Sugar on Self-Worth
by Emmalyn Kartchner
Category: Social Sciences
Abstract – As all forms of sugar become increasingly prevalent globally, it becomes a necessity to understand the consequences of a high sugar intake, not only on the human body but also on the brain. The current study observes the short-term correlation of refined sugar on feelings of self-worth in teenagers. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to assess the high-school -aged participants’ levels of self-worth before and after administration of either a sugar, sugarless, or no cookie, based on randomly generated grouping software. RSES results showed that the average score of the students who ate the sugar or sugarless cookie decreased by 0.1154 and 0.7083 respectively, while control group’s average before and after scores were identical. Consistent with the hypothesis, the comparison of the averages of each group’s before and after scores determined that sugar does seem to impact levels of self-worth an hour after consumption in healthy teenagers. However, the data indicated that other refined carbohydrates also have similar effects, suggesting that foods with a high Glycemic Index affect levels of self-worth.