Study links hyperactivity to certain food additives

[Claire]

Hmm, the study link Kim posted result appears to be posted May 9, is there an error in the date?

 

Here is the link to the study provided in the Feingold newsletter yesterday along with some excerpts, enough to not break copyright.

 

http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2007/sep/07_99.shtml

 

Major study indicates a link between hyperactivity in children and certain food additives

A study by researchers at the University of Southampton has shown evidence of increased levels of hyperactivity in young children consuming mixtures of some artificial food colours and the preservative sodium benzoate.

 

...This significant new research .. provides a clear demonstration that changes in behaviour can be detected in three-year-old and eight-year-old children.

 

...funded by ..the Food Standards Agency ... involved studying levels of hyperactivity in 153 three-year-olds and 144 eight-year-olds... The children ... represent the full range of behaviour, from normal through to hyperactive...

 

The children’s families were asked to put them on a diet free from the additives ... Over a six-week period the children were then given a drink each day which either contained one of two mixtures of food colours and benzoate preservative, or just fruit juice – with all the drinks looking and tasting identical.

Hyperactivity is a behaviour indicated by increased movement, impulsivity and inattention.

 

 

http://www.myomancy.com/2007/09/food-color...d-hyperactivity

 

Part of the research was to see if genetic make-up played a role in how children reacted to the drinks. They found that children with genes relating to impair histamine clearance (histamine N-methyltransferase, HNMT Thr105le and/or HNMT T939C). Children with these genes did show a significantly greater reaction to the both mixtures.

 

 

This last link they is from a different study.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/children-...8783287866.html

 

Children who eat junk food 'worst behaved'

A recent British survey suggests children who regularly gorge on junk food are nearly three times more likely to behave badly than those who avoid it completely.

[kim]

Good idea Claire..... Thanks for taking the time to clarify and post all of these!

[samsmom]

I am SOOOO glad that this is getting more publicity now . We started the Feingold diet last year, followed it rigidly for the first 1-2 months, then added more foods back in. But we absolutely never give Sam artificial colors, and almost never artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup or preservatives. His temperament is fantastic compared to the way he was before we started. I think it has also helped his tics too, as he's way better than he was a year ago, although I hesitate to say that it's just because of the diet.

 

But I wish EVERYONE, tics or no tics, would just try to cut these things out of children's diets. Before we started Feingold, I didn't think they had any effect on Sam but I realize now that I couldn't see what they were doing because he was having something with colors in every day - they are in so many things! and so the effect wasn't obvious.... Only when we cleaned them all out of his diet did we realize how much they were affecting his behavior, and how much better he could be without them.

 

Sams mom