Food additives could make children misbehave
Publication Date:20/09/2007
Artificial colourings and preservatives in food may make children hyperactive, a new study has found. Children up to 9 could be affected. But even if additives make a child restless and fidgety, they are very unlikely to cause serious behaviour problems.
What do we know already?
Critics have suggested for years that artificial food additives could cause hyperactive behaviour in children. And many parents will have suspected at some point that restless behaviour or a tantrum was caused by something their child ate.
Most of the research up till now has looked at children with a condition called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Doctors say a child has ADHD if he or she is severely hyperactive, and it disrupts their life at home and in school. The research hasn't always given a clear picture about the effects of additives, but some studies suggest they could make ADHD worse.
Now, a new study has looked at whether artificial colours and preservatives could affect the behaviour of ordinary children.
What does the new study say?
The researchers found a link between food additives and children's behaviour. Children were given drinks containing either juice, or juice and different amounts of additives. The additives varied, but the amount was about the same as a child might get from eating 100 or 200 grams (4 to 7 ounces) of sweets each day.
In weeks where children were given drinks with additives instead of pure juice, parents and teachers noticed that their behaviour was worse. They were restless, fidgety and unable to concentrate.
Tell me more about the study's findings
Overall, children's behaviour was only slightly worse after being given additives. The change was only a tenth of the difference between an ordinary child and a child with ADHD. So, even if additives affect behaviour, it's very unlikely that they make enough of a difference to cause ADHD.
The study also had some confusing results. Small amounts of additives seemed to make 3-year-olds behave badly, but larger amounts didn't affect their behaviour at all. Findings like this make it harder to know whether the results were a fluke or not.
For the 8- and 9-year-olds, only the larger amount of additives seemed to affect their behaviour.
Where does the study come from?
The study was done by researchers at the University of Southampton and Imperial College London. It appeared in a journal called The Lancet, which is published by a company called Elsevier. It was funded by the Food Standards Agency, which is a government organisation that checks on food safety.
How reliable are the findings?
The study was done quite well. Researchers looked at nearly 300 children over a period of six weeks. Half the children were 3, and the others were 8 or 9. In some weeks, children were given juice every day. In other weeks, they got the drink with additives. But neither the children nor their parents knew which drink was which.
One problem with the study is that parents and teachers weren't asked about the time of day when children misbehaved. So, a child could be recorded as behaving badly in the morning, even if they didn't have a drink with additives until the afternoon. In the results, it would look as if the additives had caused the bad behaviour. Problems like this make the study less reliable.
What does this mean for me?
The results suggest that there could be a link between colours and preservatives in food and children's behaviour. But this is just one study, and on its own it doesn't prove that additives cause hyperactivity.
You may want to cut down on the amount of artificial additives your children eat. But the children in the study were given different mixtures of additives, so it's impossible to say which ingredients might cause a problem. The colours used in the study were:
- Sunset yellow (E110)
- Tartrazine (E102)
- Carmoisine (E122)
- Ponceau 4R (E124)
- Quinoline yellow (E104)
- Allura red AC (E129)
The study also looked at a preservative called sodium benzoate (E211). It's used in lots of soft drinks.
Manufacturers often make it obvious on the packaging if a product doesn't contain artificial additives. But it's not always easy to tell. For example, E100 is a natural yellow colour, but E102 is artificial. And natural colours and preservatives aren't necessarily any healthier.
The Food Standards Agency, which checks on food safety, has held meetings with food manufacturers to talk about how they could cut down on additives in their products. Colourings are added to make food look appetising, so can be removed quite easily. But preservatives keep food safe to eat. It might be harder to avoid buying food that contains preservatives, and more difficult for manufacturers to stop using them.
What should I do now?
Foods with lots of additives tend to be processed foods, sugary snacks, sweets or fizzy drinks. Most parents already try not to let their children eat too much of these foods.
If your child has ADHD, you might want to try and limit the amount of artificial additives they eat. But this can make your life more difficult, and the benefit may only be small.
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© BMJ Publishing Group Limited ("BMJ Group") 2007. All rights reserved
This information does not replace medical advice. If you are concerned you might have a medical problem please ask your Boots pharmacy team in your local Boots store, or see your doctor.
