A Word from Laura

Greetings from Indiana!  If your anxiety meter regarding your child’s return to school is off the chart, you have a lot of company!  It’s a very stressful time of the year.  Your child is worried about his new teacher(s), how hard the work will be, and whether he’ll see old friends and make new ones.  The teachers are worried about class size and whether or not the students are there to learn.  Parents are worried about all of the above!   

Two things that will help your child this year are getting enough sleep and a healthy diet.  In a way, sleep is food for the brain.  Be firm about bedtimes.  Make sure your child is getting 8-10 hours of sleep each night.  Also your child needs a healthy diet to feed his brain–a good breakfast, a healthy lunch and dinner and healthy snacks.  Yes, this really does matter as we’ll see in a July article from the Journal of Attention Deficits.

As some of you know we have been working on a paper for the medical journal Clinical Pediatrics called, “Dietary Sensitivities and ADHD Symptoms: 35 years of Research.”  I’m pleased to say the article has been accepted for publication and will appear in an early spring issue of the journal.  I’ll let you know how you can get a copy of the article once it appears.  You’ll want to give copies to your doctor and teachers.  Now we are working on a paper about possible mechanisms of how artificial colors and some common foods affect behavior.  I’m finding the material challenging but very interesting.  Like our paper for Clinical Pediatrics I have some excellent co-authors.

Best wishes,

Laura J. Stevens, M.S.

News for You

Does Your ADHD Child Eat a Western diet or a Healthy Diet?

            Recently an article titled, “ADHD is Associated With a ‘Western’ Dietary Pattern in Adolescents” appeared in the July issue of the Journal of Attention Disorders, an excellent medical journal devoted to ADHD research.  In Western Australia the authors accessed data from 1799 adolescents, aged 14, of whom 115 had been diagnosed with ADHD according to a pediatrician or psychologist.  A food frequency questionnaire was completed by parents.  There were 212 foods listed on the questionnaire which were reduced to 38 food groups.  Two major dietary patterns were identified and referred to as either “Healthy” or “Western.”  In the Western dietary pattern children ate more total fat, saturated fat, refined sugars and sodium.  In the Healthy dietary pattern children ate more omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and folic acid and less total fat, saturated fat and refined sugars. 

When analyzed statistically children eating a Western diet were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than children who ate a Healthy diet.

            Here are the foods consumed in a Healthy dietary pattern: 

-yellow or red vegetables

-leafy green vegetable

-tomato

-cruciferous vegetables

-other vegetables

-fresh fruit

-legumes

-whole grains

-fish (steamed, grilled, or canned)

Here are the foods identified with a Western diet pattern:

-take out foods

-confectionery foods

-red meat

-refined grains (white flour, white rice, etc)

-processed meats

-french fries

-crisps

-soft drinks

-cakes, biscuits

-potatoes, not fried

-sauces & dressings

-full fat dairy products

Where does your child fit in this diet scheme?  If your child eats the “Western” diet, here are some things you can do to improve his/her diet and turn it into a Healthy diet.

1.    Aim for 6-8 servings of fruit and vegetables each day.  Most children like watermelon, peaches, oranges, banana, grapes, strawberries, and apples.  .  Most children like carrots and finger-foods.  Several small cherry tomatoes would count as a serving.   Vegetable soup and vegetables juices like tomato also count.  For salads, instead of iceberg lettuce switch to the more nutritious romaine lettuce and add cut up vegetables. 

2.    Don’t buy processed meat although you can find sliced ham that does not contain preservatives.  Don’t fry meats, poultry or fish.

3.    If the product is colored with artificial colors such as Blue #1, Blue#2 tartrazine (yellow #5), sunset yellow (yellow #6), red #3, or red #40, don’t buy it.  These colors have been shown to cause symptoms of ADHD in some susceptible children and also irritability and sleep problems.  Also avoid products that contain artificial flavors and preservatives.

4.    Add fish that is high in omega-3 fatty acids like tuna and salmon.

5.    Greatly reduce the amount of sugar and corn syrup in the foods you buy and make at home. 

You won’t be able to make all these changes over night, but aim for the Healthy diet for all family members.  Good luck!