Sugar

Re "Sweet Nothings?" (Feb. 9) (about whether sugar causes hyperactive behavior in children). It seems that many parents are in denial. Their need to blame something for their children's behavioral problems is tragic. I grew up in a household where my two brothers and I ate anything we pleased. That included candy, ice cream, and spoonfuls of sugar straight from the bag. We were (and are) not obese, hyperactive or sick. We were active children, and needed energy. We were not active because of the sugar we ate, but because we were healthy, normal children.

Makers of sugar-free foods must tell consumers when their products aren't low-calorie or reduced in calories, U.S. regulators said. The Food and Drug Administration is "concerned about a number of products" advertised as sugar-free that don't bear the required disclaimer on calories, according to a letter to manufacturers posted on the agency's website. Consumers might erroneously assume that all products without sugar will help them lose weight, the FDA said.

Recently, View ran an article stating that sugar is no longer considered by the medical community to be responsible for hyperactive behavior in children ("Sweet Nothings?" Feb. 9). I must beg to differ. For 11 years, I did the sound for "Romper Room" here in L.A. We taped from five to 10 shows a day. During the breaks between shows, a gaggle of kindergartners would line up at the candy machine and gorge their little bodies with the basest of junk foods. By late afternoon these kids would be bouncing around the stage, had shorter-than-normal attention spans, and were often out of control.

Sugar growers will be encouraged to destroy some of their crop for a second consecutive year in an effort to prop up prices and reduce a government-held stockpile. Growers who agree to plow under crops will each be given as much as $20,000 worth of sugar that the government has acquired under a price-support program, the Agriculture Department said Friday. The USDA is paying $1.

World sugar production in 1988-89 is expected to be a record of about 107.1 million metric tons, up 3% from slightly less than 103.8 million tons produced in 1987-88, the Agriculture Department said. The new estimate also was up from the 103.9 million tons forecast in June, the department said in a report. "Substantial improvements are foreseen for some of the world's major sugar cane-producing countries, including Australia, Brazil, Cuba and India," the report said.

I really enjoyed the well-written article on Sugar Shane Mosley (Shadow Boxing, by David Davis, Dec. 9). Davis did an excellent job illuminating Mosleys plight. It has been frustrating to watch his career stall despite his terrific ability. Thank you for drawing more attention to this great athlete and the stepchild sport of boxing. Melissa Solozano Via the Internet

Tanya (Sugar) Geise, 71, a featured performer at Niles T. Granlund's old Florentine Gardens during the early 1940s, the heyday of the nightclubs in Los Angeles. A dancer in the early musicals that dominated Hollywood in the 1930s, Miss Geise began in show business as a child model. In Los Angeles on Oct. 30 of the complications of emphysema.

Huge storage silos lay crumbled on the ground and sugar was scattered up to a mile away Sunday after an explosion described as a ball of blue flames ripped through a major sugar refinery. One person was missing and 15 others were injured, one critically. The cause of the blast was not immediately known, but the blast followed a bolt of lightning, one witness said. Company officials said sugar dust might have been ignited. About 150 people work at the Western Sugar Co.

Now diabetics have one more reason to keep their blood sugar tightly controlled: Excessive blood sugar contributes to heart disease. Researchers already knew that diabetes doubles the risk of heart disease -- 70% to 80% of diabetics die from heart attacks, strokes and coronary artery disease -- but they were unsure whether glucose was a culprit or if other risk factors, such as cholesterol or high blood pressure, were to blame.

Scientists have apparently solved a daunting puzzle about diabetes that could eventually lead to better ways to treat a disease that affects 10 million Americans. Researchers reported last week they have determined that most of the excess sugar in the blood of diabetics and non-diabetics is stored in the muscle as a substance known as glycogen--identifying for the first time the primary location of stored sugar.