Feeding Children’s Behavior

A frenzy is taking place over foods and ingredients that feed into children’s behavioral problems, but it’s nothing new. Since the 1920s, both parents and experts have postulated that food can ramp-up children’s behavior. Today, more research has been added to the pool of evidence that foods and ingredients can, indeed, make a difference.

It makes perfect sense that what kids eat affects their behavior. It is well established that poor nutritional intake and deficiencies in zinc, iron, B vitamins and protein can impair brain function and lead to violence and antisocial behavior in children. Nutritional deficiencies, including zinc, magnesium, calcium and essential fatty acids, as well as carbohydrate cravings, have also been noted in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).

With the rising prevalence of AD/HD and autism spectrum disorders, parents are increasingly seeking complementary medicine as an alternative treatment. Some popular dietary interventions include multivitamin and/or mineral and essential-fatty-acid supplements, and avoidance of a laundry list of foods and ingredients, in particular sweeteners and food additives.

“There is a changing concern in the public regarding ingredients and children’s behavior. Whenever the media focuses on a particular component, the public gets caught up in whatever that ingredient is. The concern about food components, especially additives, related to children is not a misplaced concern, however. Younger children, because of their small size and their increased absorption of nutrients during periods of growth, are at higher risk than older children and adults,” says Dian Dooley, Ph.D., professor, Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii, Manoa, and Institute of Food Technologists communicator on food and children’s behavior.

Explosive food additives

One of the leading scapegoats behind kids’ behavioral issues is food additives. While this has been a controversial subject for decades, with little proof to back up speculations, some recent studies have supported this theory. In a well-publicized 2007 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial published in The Lancet (370(9598):1,560-7) that included 153 3 year olds and 144 8 and 9 year olds, researchers looked at the effects of artificial food color and additives on children’s behavior. The scientists discovered that a combination of artificial colors and a sodium benzoate preservative in the diet resulted in increased hyperactivity. In a 2004 meta-analysis of 15 double-blind, placebo-controlled trials on hyperactivity and artificial food colors, results indicated that neurobehavioral toxicity may characterize a number of widely used chemicals (Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics; 25(6):423-34).