Additives contribute to creating hyper kids
Oct 08, 2007

Nearly every kid's food is "decorated" -- or "tainted" -- with artificial food color and additives. While they make food look pretty, there may be a downside. Can our children's daily consumption of juices, candy, and soft drinks with these additives be fueling disruptive behavior, restlessness, lack of concentration, fidgeting, and recurrent interrupting?

Over the past 40 years, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), British authorities and researchers have insisted that there was little or no link between hyperactivity and food preservatives like sodium benzoate or artificial coloring like sunset yellow food dyes. Yet a study published last month in the British journal Lancet has brought this under question.

Jim Stevenson, a psychologist at England's University of Southampton, recruited 300 children, ages 3, 8 and 9 , and spiked their juices with differing quantities of additives and food color. The first group gulped down the usual amount of food with dye that a British child drinks, the second group had half as much, while the third group received no food additives or dye in their juices. Then Stevenson had parents, teachers and a computer measure the children's level of hyperactivity.

To the surprise of the researchers, food industry and government officials (but not to the surprise of teachers and parents) the children consuming the drinks with either amount of preservatives and dye exhibited higher levels of hyperactivity. Some symptoms were seen within one hour of taking the drink.

The study was complex and rigorous in its research methods: all parties were unaware of which drink was being consumed by which child. Also, children were switched from taking one type of drink for one week to another the following week, after a wash-out period.

The hyperactivity level in the kids drinking the spiked juice was not at the level to be defined as ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), which is an illness common in nearly 9 percent of American kids with symptoms of extreme disruptive behavior. However, previous studies have shown that children who do have ADHD can benefit from removing food color and additives from their diet.

Interestingly, the effect of additives was more pronounced in the 3-year-olds and a select group of children. Scientists believe there may be a genetic link between food and release of histamines causing hyperactivity. Some kids with the genetic predisposition may be super-sensitive to food additives, just like certain individuals respond more significantly to caffeine.

The study was powerful enough to have the U.K. Food Standards Agency issue new advice for parents to curtail the intake of additives if their kids show signs of hyperactivity. The FDA is still pondering the issue.

The bottom line: We need to pay attention to our children's foods and consider tapering down the additives and preservatives, especially if hyperactive behavior is a problem. (Or else, as a parent, maybe I could increase the additives in my own diet to keep up with my 8-, 11- and 15- year-old kids!)

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