When Matthew Grover was five years old, his parents took him to see a psychiatrist. His teachers had complained about his behavior at school, where he was extremely rambunctious, acted out, and often seemed to be in his own world.
After three years of talk therapy, Matthew was finally given a diagnosis: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Like many children with ADHD—a developmental disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity—Matthew was prescribed stimulants, the most widely accepted treatment for ADHD. But as the age of diagnosis and treatment gets closer to the preschool years, many researchers, parents, and physicians, are concerned. In addition to misuse and over prescription, stimulants have the potential to stunt growth in this young population. Parents are looking for an alternative to medication. But is there one?
The problem with answering this question has to do with the fact that the exact cause of ADHD is unknown.
Though genetics play a large role, the impact of environmental factors has remained inconclusive. Removing suspect nutritional offenders—like sugar and other carbohydrates—has been a popular, but largely unproven, way to try to abate ADHD symptoms. However, a recent study conducted by Britain’s Food Standards Agency and published in the medical journal, The Lancet, found that it is not sugary foods, but the common food colorings and preservatives that are often added to them, that were responsible for hyperactivity in a sample of three-year-olds and eight and nine-year-olds.
The researchers gave one set of children a drink containing a preservative, sodium benzoate, and common food colorings (typical examples of similar drinks are sodas or juice “drinks” that are not 100 percent juice). Another set of kids received a drink that looked and tasted the same, but did not have artificial ingredients. Hyperactivity was recorded by teachers and parents. The trial was double-blind, meaning neither researchers nor parents knew which concoction the kids were given.
The study found that kids who received the artificial ingredients had higher mean levels of hyperactivity than those who received the placebo. The results support prior research on this topic and begs the question: why are these additives allowed in food in the first place?
