Plenty of food for thought

29.05.2004
By MARTIN JOHNSTON health reporter

They are the kinds of foods and drinks most children love: Fanta, Twisties, snack bars.

But many parents have suspected the artificial additives these and countless other foods and drinks contain cause hyperactivity.

They have gained support from some British doctors who suggest the artificial colourings and the preservative sodium benzoate should be banned.

A Southampton University study of 277 preschoolers this week linked hyperactivity to the additives.

The children were put on an additive-free diet and later given fruit juice. For some the juice contained additives, but neither the parents nor the children were told which was which.

Parents reported more disruptive and inattentive behaviour during weeks when their children drank the juice with additives, although independent observers were unable to confirm these effects.

Auckland mother Charmaine January is not surprised by the findings. She said her 6-year-old son Sean had long been overactive and hard to control after consuming the likes of Fanta, Twisties and LCMs snack bars.

They are among his favourite foods. His mother tries to limit his intake of these types of foods, adding snacks of fruit, vegetables and sandwiches and eliminating fizzy drink. But sometimes she bends to Sean's nagging. "Even if I hide the stuff he finds it. It's like someone who's on drugs. He has to have some of this or he goes berserk."

Sean said it was a bit unfair that his mother tried to stop him eating his favourite foods. "I feel a bit hungry."

Mrs January said her daughter Vicki, 10, seemed unaffected by the additives, although she ate less of foods containing them.

New Zealand health experts are divided on the link to hyperactivity.

Professor Jim Mann, of Otago University, said reputable studies had produced results for and against the theory. "My own gut feeling is that there is something there."

But Auckland allergy specialist Dr Vincent Crump doubted this. He had put children on additive-free diets and seen no change in their behaviour. It was difficult to design a study that was free of parental bias.

"Many mothers, because they want to see an improvement, can make themselves see things."

Dr Crump said many parents thought party food made children hyperactive, but he put it down to the excitement of being at a party.

Kellogg, the maker of LCMs, said four of the five products in the range were free of colourings and urged those concerned about reactions to choose them.

Fanta brand owner Coca-Cola Oceania declined to comment on the Southampton study, but referred to medical opinion and trials that "generally refute" any link between hyperactivity and additives

I'm amazed that nothing at all is said about all the sugar in those things ( I won't even call it food).

I agree!

My mothers friend is a pediatrician, her husband is a neurologist and their son has ADHD. The kid is SO smart, I have never seen anything like it. He is 8 years old and doing complex algebra problems IN HIS HEAD it blows me away and yet he gets horrible grades in school. He cant sit still, jumps around all over the place, breaks all his pencils and bounces up and down nonstop.

His mother refuses to cut back on his sugar, and in fact gives him more of it, saying it helps him relax sometimes.

I cant understand it. All the kid eats is piles of sugar. Oreos, fruit roll ups, sugar candy like pixie sticks and the junk on a string. All day long. He wont eat anything unless its super sweet and he only drinks coke or imitation fruit punch. He even eats white bread with butter and sugar for breakfast!

His mother is a pediatrician and all she wants to do is medicate the poor kid, and she keeps increasing his dose. He sees tons of doctors all the time, and they all agree that cutting out the sugar wont help.

I am currently in the process of moving, and my realtor was telling me how her son was diagnosed as ADHD and she put him on a diet similar to Atkins but not as extreme and his teachers are amazed. He went from a D student to an A student. He is able to focus in all his classes, he isnt bouncing off the walls all the time. He is a normal kid. She is amazed at the results.

I told this to my mothers friend and she responded saying "I find that hard to believe" some people would really prefer the easy solution of saying my kid has a problem, here take these drugs and thats it. I suppose changing his diet requires some type of effort and discipline. Especially since she would have to change her own etc and she isnt willing to do that it seems.

Its just sad.

You know what the scary thing is. This is from a pair of doctors. If they can't even manage to think out of the [medicate everything] box for their own kids, what chances do the rest of us have of getting proper medical care. It goes to show you how deep their brain washing goes. Got an ill? we got the pill ....

I could have told em this my daughter was a she devil from the pits of hell (sorry for understating this but its not right to call your daughter the words i want to use) after sweets but we found that a few glasses of pure orange juice after a trip to the inlaws (because granny was a right b**ch who thought it was funny to get her going and wouldnt say no) would calm her down works for my youngest son too.