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Lördagsgodis

Lördagsgodis at IKEA in Hong Kong.

Lördagsgodis (Swedish) or lørdagsgodis and lørdagsgodteri (Norwegian), (English: "Saturday sweets" or "Saturday candy") is a Norwegian[1] and Swedish tradition of children eating candy or sweets mainly or only on Saturdays.[2]

The tradition started as a health recommendation in 1959[3] following the government-funded Vipeholm experiments, where patients of Vipeholm Hospital for the intellectually disabled in Lund, Sweden, were unknowingly fed large amounts of sweets to see whether a high-sugar diet would cause tooth decay.[4]

Over time, what was once a recommendation has turned into a routine for both children and adults to eat candy on Saturdays, as an event to look forward to during the week.[5] It is common for Swedes to buy lördagsgodis by weight from candy walls in grocery stores.[6] Candy consumption started increasing in 1980s and by 2010s, Sweden had the highest per capita candy consumption in the world.[7] As of 2015, the Swedish government, facing high candy consumption and in effort to improve public health was considering enforcing Saturday candy. Such deliberations were being met with criticism from groups who instead supported a cap on consumption.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Hvorfor spiser vi lørdagsgodt?". NRK. 4 May 2024.
  2. ^ Savage, Maddy (8 October 2021). "Lördagsgodis: Sweden's Saturday-only candy tradition". BBC. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  3. ^ Kawash, Samira (2013). Candy: A Century of Panic and Pleasure. New York: Faber & Faber, Incorporated. pp. 257–258. ISBN 9780865477568.
  4. ^ Lundqvist, Ida (5 December 2010). "Vipeholmsexperimenten" [Vipeholm experiments]. P3 Dokumentär (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio.
  5. ^ "Sweet only on Saturday: the Swedish tradition that teaches children the things of life". The European Times. 26 August 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  6. ^ Ogletree, Kelsey. "Lördagsgodis Is Sweden's Sweet Tradition of Eating Candy on Saturdays, and We're Officially Obsessed". realsimple.com. Real Simple. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  7. ^ "En ständig kamp mot sockret" [A constant battle with sugar]. Lund University (in Swedish). 2021-12-09. Archived from the original on 2025-06-27. Retrieved 2025-06-27. Sedan lösgodiset introducerades på 1980-talet har godiskonsumtionen i Sverige ökat från 10 till 15 kg per person och år. Idag äter svenskarna mest godis i hela världen. [Since the introduction of bulk confectionery in the 1980s, candy consumption in Sweden has increased from 10 to 15 kg per person per year. Today, Swedes eat the most candy in the world.]
  8. ^ Samuelsson, Elinor (2015). "Vipeholm experiment". In Goldstein, Darra (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-931339-6.