Thanks for writing this Rob. I particularly appreciate the subtitle, because whenever I have shared this information over the last thirty years, I am almost always met by disbelief and pushback.

I think the "common association" factor is most relevant. Kids are hyped up at a birthday party, or visiting Grandma, or going to the amusement park, where they may well be consuming quantities of junk food, particularly sugar, but the social situation is really what's getting their brains racing. It's not that different from many parents blaming vaccines for their kids autism - they first notice signs of trouble around the time lots of vaccinations occur - but the research consistently shows this is not a cause and effect relationship.

On the other hand, endocrinologist Robert Lustig has focused on whether a glucose surge might cause temporary (seconds or less, not minutes) boosts in dopamine release, reprogramming brain award centers, and disrupting how we process what will bring us true happiness/contentment.