3 Biological Reasons Children Crave Carbs (And Why It’s Not Such a Bad Thing)

3. Carbs Play a Key Role in Growth

Children were given sweet drinks and then categorized into high sweet preference and low preference. These two groups did not differ in by age, body weight, stage of puberty, height or gender. Where they did differ is a measurement referred to NTx, a marker of bone growth that can be detected in urine. The results showed that the children that were still growing showed a heightened preference for sweets compared to those who had stopped growing (around 15-16).