Food Additives May Cause Hyperactivity
Certain
artificial food colorings and other additives can worsen hyperactive
behaviors in children aged 3 to 9, British researchers reported
on Wednesday.
Tests on more than 300 children showed
significant differences in their behavior when they drank fruit
drinks spiked with a mixture of food colorings and preservatives,
Jim Stevenson and colleagues at the University of Southampton
said.
"These findings show that adverse
effects are not just seen in children with extreme hyperactivity
(such as ADHD) but can also be seen in the general population
and across the range of severities of hyperactivity," the
researchers wrote in their study, published in the Lancet medical
journal.
Stevenson's team, which has been studying
the effects of food additives in children for years, made up two
mixtures to test in one group of 3-year-olds and a second group
of children aged 8 and 9.
They included sunset yellow coloring, also
known as E110; carmoisine, or E122; tartrazine, or E102; ponceau
4R, or E124; the preservative sodium benzoate, or E211; and other
colors.
One of the two mixtures contained ingredients
commonly drunk by young British children in popular drinks, they
said. They did not specify what foods might include the additives.
Both mixtures significantly affected the
older children. The 3-year-olds were most affected by the mixture
that closely resembled the average intake for children that age,
Stevenson's team reported.
"The implications of these results
for the regulation of food additive use could be substantial,"
the researchers concluded.
The issue of whether food additives can
affect children's behavior has been controversial for decades.
Benjamin Feingold, an allergist, has written
books arguing that not only did artificial colors, flavors and
preservatives affect children but so did natural salicylate compounds
found in some fruits and vegetables.
Several studies have contradicted this
notion.
Stevenson's team made up several batches
of fruit drinks and carefully watched the children after they
drank them. Some did not contain the additives.
The children varied in their responses
but in general reacted poorly to the cocktails, Stevenson's team
reported.
"We have found an adverse effect of
food additives on the hyperactive behavior of 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old
children," they wrote.
Dr. Sue Baic, a registered dietitian at
the University of Bristol, said in a statement: "This is
a well designed and potentially very important study."
"It supports what dietitians have
known for a long time, that feeding children on diets largely
consisting of heavily processed foods which may also be high in
fat, salt or sugar is not optimal for health."
Others disagreed.
"The paper shows some statistical
associations. It is not a demonstration of cause and effect,"
said Dr. Paul Illing, a registered toxicologist and safety consultant
in Wirral, Britain.
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