The Change in Diet That Improves Your Child's Behavior

by Jane Hersey

Are you anxious about the start of school, because you dread getting phone calls about your child acting up in class? If so, you will be interested in learning what schools around the world have discovered -- that children's behavior and concentration often improve when certain artificial food colorings, preservatives, and flavorings are removed from their diet.

When the staff at Barnabas School in Worcestershire, England conducted a two-week trial banning 27 food additives, they noticed a marked improvement in students' behavior and concentration levels. They also surveyed the parents and found that 30% reported that their children behaved better during the trial and 18% noticed their children slept better. As a result, the school decided to ban all additives from school meals.

And when Palmers Island Primary School in New South Wales, Australia provided additive-free breakfasts to students and sent home booklets with suggestions for lunch and dinner, the pupils became less aggressive and more cooperative. "We found difficult children created much less of a disturbance," said principal Andrew Bennett, who noticed the changes in three to four days. Families also became more harmonious and there was less fighting among siblings.

These schools reflect a growing international awareness that certain artificial food additives and foods can trigger aggression, hyperactivity, and learning problems in sensitive children.

In the United Kingdom, major supermarket chains like Sainsbury, Tesco and ASDA have already begun to phase out artificial colorings and flavorings from their store-brand foods and beverages. And another recent report from Australia has found that children in daycare who eat highly processed foods are more likely to bully and injure others on the playground.

These reports are consistent with the positive changes in students' behavior and learning that we have seen at a number of American schools that have reduced additive-laden junk foods.

After Central Alternative High School in Appleton, Wisconsin started an additive-free school lunch program, principal LuAnn Coenen found that instead of the high rate of dropouts, expulsions, drug use and suicides that her school had previously experienced, she was able to report "zero" in each category in her annual reports to the state. Mary Bruyette, a teacher at the school commented, "I don't have the disruptions in class or the difficulties with student behavior that I experienced before we started the food program."

Kim Anderson, principal of Whitefish Central School in Montana, noticed a "tremendous change" in student behavior after additive-filled candy and soda were removed from the cafeteria and vending machines, as part of an overhaul designed to improve the middle school students' conduct. He found a direct correlation between the amount of pop and candy the students consumed and disruptive behavior, as well as a 75% decline in behavioral concerns since the new food program began. Teachers also reported that students were more attentive after lunch, resulting in 10 to 15% additional teaching time.

The link between synthetic food additives and behavior/learning problems was first discovered by the late Benjamin Feingold, M.D., a pediatrician and chief of allergy at San Francisco's Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, and it has since been supported by numerous studies from around the world.

An Australian study by Rowe and Rowe found that 75% of the children with suspected hyperactivity improved on a diet free of artificial food colorings. The researchers noted that the children reacting to the colorings were irritable and restless, and that the younger children's reactions also included "constant crying, tantrums ... and severe sleep disturbance," as well as being "disruptive," "easily distracted and excited," and "out of control."

And a landmark trial by Boris and Mandel of Cornell Medical Center reported that 73 percent of children diagnosed with ADHD responded well to a diet eliminating artificial food colors and certain foods. The authors concluded, "In summary, this double-blind, placebo controlled food challenge study supports the role of dietary factors in ADHD. Through a simple elimination diet symptoms can be controlled."

How to Protect Your Kids

With approximately 10,000 chemicals being added to food these days, how can you help your family avoid the most troublesome additives? You can start by choosing low-additive foods at the supermarket.

Always read ingredient labels on processed foods and steer clear of any that list color/number combinations, such as Blue 2 or Yellow 5, because these petroleum-based food dyes have been found to trigger learning and behavior problems in sensitive children. Remember that real foods have names like 'wheat' or 'corn,' not numbers!

Be sure to also avoid foods containing aspartame and artificial flavorings like "vanillin" (fake vanilla), as well as the preservatives BHA, BHT, and TBHQ, which can affect children's conduct and ability to concentrate.

Individual dietary needs vary and no one diet will meet everyone's daily requirements. Before starting any diet, check with your doctor or nutritionist.

Related Studies

Synthetic food coloring and behavior: a dose response effect in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, repeated-measures study. K.S. Rowe, K.J. Rowe, Journal of Pediatrics Nov 1994, 135:691-8.

Foods and additives are common causes of the attention deficit hyperactive disorder in children. M. Boris, F. Mandel, Annals of Allergy 72:462-8, May 1994.

Additional studies can be found at www.diet-studies.com/adhd.html.

Jane Hersey is the director of the nonprofit Feingold Association, dedicated to helping children and adults apply proven dietary techniques for better behavior, learning and health. For more info or advice, email Jane at janehersey@familymagazinegroup.com.