Candies are part of the eating habits of Spanish children. This is something that cannot be denied (with some exceptions) since, no matter how much we parents try, they are so within reach of children in supermarkets (right next to the boxes, what a coincidence), shops and kiosks and the The intention that our children do not take them is often a reason for discussion.
I imagine that the reason why they become a "whim" for children has to do with sugar, salt and the intensity of flavors, food factors that intensify our attraction and that are the product of our evolution as animals that needed eat different types of food to have a varied nutrition. The difficulty lies when they become an almost obsessive habit, that's why we wanted reflect on how to use treats.
And I say how to use because, apart from this nutritional aspect, I understand that there is a component of novelty, negotiation with adults, custom and routine that makes candy making an act that implies an added pleasure and therefore a very necessity intense
The limits of this habit is that it becomes something inevitable, that it promotes excessive consumerism and that it alters the usual feeding periods ("now you are not hungry because you have eaten too many sweets ...").
Something we should avoid is to use the treats as an element of distraction: "Here, this bag is for you to eat while I run errands / housework / a thing on the computer." This is an unnecessary assignment that underpins behavior that is at risk of becoming unhealthy.
The practical use of sweets could be to use them as "surprise" or "prize". Although positive reinforcements in education tend to lead to the verbal ("you have behaved like an older child"), sometimes these sweets help us to establish autonomy behaviors and complement us in our recognition of their good behavior.
