http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040603/hl_nm/additives_children_dc_1 Food Additives Increase Hyperactivity in Kids By Will Boggs, MD NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Artificial food colorings and benzoate preservatives increase hyperactive behavior in preschool children, according to a new report. Despite claims about the detrimental behavioral effects of artificial food colorings and preservatives, the authors explain in the June Archives of Disease in Childhood, there have been no broad studies of the prevalence of hyperactivity related to intolerance to food additives. Dr. John O. Warner from Southampton General Hospital, UK, and colleagues studied the impact of artificial food colorings and benzoate preservative on the behavior of 277 preschool children. At the start, 36 children had hyperactivity and allergies, 75 were only hyperactive, 79 had only allergies, and 87 did not have either condition. Parents' ratings of their children's hyperactivity fell after withdrawal of food additives from the children's diets, the team reports, and there was an increase in hyperactivity when food additives were re-introduced. Parental hyperactivity ratings increased significantly when children were exposed to food additives regardless of their hyperactivity status or the presence of allergies at the start of the study. "Additives do have an effect on overactive behavior independent of baseline allergic and behavioral status," Warner told Reuters Health. "The effect is significant but its magnitude requires further elaboration before making any sweeping recommendations about legislation on permitted food additives." New research "will be based in schools and pre-schools in Southampton to involve 4- and 9-year-olds," Warner said. "By basing objective observation in schools, we hope to have a more sensitive way of substantiating the parents' observations. It is also important to know whether the effect is seen in older children." He added, "We do not yet know which artificial additives are important in relation to behavior or whether the list extends to other natural equivalents."
Interesting. My colleagues had a daughter who had reactions to red and similar dark-colored dyes. They made her very hyperactive. They figured it out eventually and removed it from her diet. You do have to wonder about some of the additives we consume every day without thinking...
I had a friend when I was younger that had a similar problem with red dyes. He would eat some red starbursts and basically go berzerk. I thought it was a bit strange at the time. =) I hadn't realized that such things could be common place. It's kinda scary.
I think that folks need to remember, this is only one study. It's not an authority on the issue. Until a couple more studies are done and the results are found to be easily repeatable, I'm going to look at this skeptically. I imagine this stems from the "organically grown" crowd that thinks that genetically engineered corn is going to destroy us.
