Evidence scant that diet helps kids with ADD

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Updated: January 17, 2012 6:16PM

There’s limited evidence that any particular diet or supplement helps kids with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but some research suggests that omega-3 fatty acids might help, while fatty “Western-style” diets do these children no favors, according to researchers from Children’s Memorial Hospital who reviewed previous studies on diets and supplements that have been tried in children with ADHD.

Little research supports the idea that sugar or artificial sweeteners affect children’s behavior, according to the review. Nor is there much evidence from controlled trials to support the Feingold diet, which first became popular in the 1970s and advocates avoiding food that contains red and orange dyes and preservatives (including apples, grapes and lunch meats).

Yet some studies have suggested some kids with ADHD benefit from an elimination, also known as a hypoallergenic, diet. But that typically means forgoing cow’s milk, cheese, wheat cereal, eggs, chocolate, nuts and citrus foods, which can be tough on the child and on the family, said study author Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, a professor emeritus at Northwestern University Medical School who is a neurologist at Children’s Memorial Hospital.

One study, by Australian researchers, suggested that kids who ate a typical “Western-style” diet that’s high in fat, salt and refined sugars had a higher risk of ADHD than kids who had a healthier diet.

ADHD affects an estimated 5 percent to 8 percent of school-aged children.

Gannett News Service