2

This is a very common thing among parents to tell their children not to eat sweets or other dessert foods before a meal as it will 'spoil their appetite', in the sense that they're not going to be able to eat any of their main meal, even from just one sweet.

Don't Spoil Your Appetite poster, with a glass jar of boiled sweets.

I've personally been fairly puzzled about this claim*. My understanding is that one or two sweets (or dessert foods in general) don't nearly fill a child up enough to count for spoiling your appetite, at least as much as parents would want them to think, and there isn't much word about how that's the case. And how much would even have to be eaten for it to count as spoiling it?

Is it possible to not eat as much from a meal even from just one sweet?

*But then again, I am fairly young. Hur hur.

  • What are you asking? Whether it is physically possible to eat enough "sweets" (that's a regional term - do you mean confectionery specifically or dessert foods generally?) that when presented with a full meal, you would choose to eat less than you otherwise would have? Do you doubt that claim? – Oddthinking Sep 23 '15 at 14:00
  • @Oddthinking Exactly that. I'll add an edit to clarify when I get home. –  Sep 23 '15 at 14:28
  • @Oddthinking I have added the edit now. Does this mean the question can be reopened again? –  Sep 23 '15 at 14:50
  • 1
    As it current stands, it looks like you are skeptical that someone who entered, say, a pie-eating contest might have any problem whatsoever finishing a large meal immediately afterwards. Is that really your contention? – Oddthinking Sep 23 '15 at 15:59
  • @Oddthinking Bah. You make a good point here, let me rephrase that. –  Sep 23 '15 at 16:01
  • @Oddthinking There we are. Have I made it specific enough or do I need to add any more? –  Sep 23 '15 at 16:03
  • You need to change the bold question at the end - "Is it possible to eat enough sweets until you can't eat as much from your meal?" No-one could possibly not know the answer to that as it's written. – Mark Sep 23 '15 at 17:50
  • @Oddthinking OKAY, I have added as much as I could now. Can it be reopened again? –  Sep 23 '15 at 19:54

0 Answers0