Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucy!
As for ADHD, I taught a lot of children who suffered with it and I'm struggling to find the link between having/getting ADHD and diet. I agree with Caryl entirely that diet does have an impact on people with ADHD, perhaps more so than those that don't suffer with it, and cutting out the E-numbers and caffeine can drastically improve the attitude and behaviour of someone that suffers with it, but I don't for one minute think that "bad" food content can actually give you ADHD in the first place.
|
Nor do I think it's as simple as that with genuine ADHD in the majority of children. Unlike Steve, scientists are not sure what causes ADHD, but many studies indicate a strong genetic link. For eg children with ADHD who carry a particular version of a certain gene have thinner brain tissue in the areas of the brain associated with attention, and research has shown that this isn't permanent and as they grow up the brain develops to a noral level and the symptoms reduce. There's also evidence of a link between the condition and women smoking/drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Children exposed to high levels of lead seem to be more disposed to ADHD, which might explain why the condition has surfaced so strongly in the last 30 years, given the levels of pollution in our cities. In a small percentage it can be traced to an earlier brain injury.
Food additives are thought to be a possible contributory factor, and although sugar is widely supposed to exaccerbate symptoms, more research discounts this than supports it, and much of the evidence is allegorical and based on the effect of replacing an unhealthy diet with an across the board healthy one which improves most children's ability to concentrate and learn, whether they have ADHD or not.
The difficulty is that it's a condition that is hard to diagnose (imo many children are held to have attention deficiency may not actually have the condition, but display the symptoms for other reasons) .. and when parents decide their child has ADHD and treat solely by diet it's hard to be sure how far the resulting improvements are due to the diet solely and how far to the increased nurture and attention the child is receiving .. a bit like the Hawthorne effect in training, when behaviour changes because of observation and attention rather than because of the training itself.
Caryl