Food Additives Linked to Hyperactivity in Kids

The 1…………………… about food additives and children’s behavior continues, this
time with a study linking food additives and a common preservative to hyperactivity. But not
everyone is 2…………………… this latest research is definite. Certain artificial food colorings
and other additives can worsen hyperactive behaviors in children aged 3 to 9, UK researchers
report. Tests on more than 300 children showed 3…………………… differences in their
behavior when they drank fruit drinks mixed with food colorings and 4……………………, say
Professor Jim Stevenson and colleagues at the University of Southampton.
“These findings show that 5…………………… effects are not just seen in children with
extreme hyperactivity but can also be seen in the general 6……………………,” the researchers
write. Stevenson’s team, which has been studying the effects of food additives in children for
years, made up drinks to test in a group of 3-year-olds and a second group of children aged
7
……………………. Children received ordinary fruit juice or a drink 8…………………… in
look and taste that contained common additives. Some children were given a drink containing
colorings typically found in a couple of 50 gram bags of candy. Others were given a higher
level of colorings, equal to consuming the 9…………………… in four of these bags. Parents,
teachers, and the researchers then studied the children’s behavior. Both mixtures significantly
10
…………………… the older children, when compared with the regular drink. “Although the
use of artificial coloring in food might seem 11……………………, the same cannot be said for
sodium benzoate, which has an important preservative function,” the researchers write.
“The changes to food additive rules could be 12…………………….” The issue of whether
food additives can affect children’s behavior has been controversial for decades. Dr. Benjamin
Feingold has written books 13…………………… that not only do artificial colors, flavors, and
preservatives affect children, but so do natural chemicals found in some fruits and vegetables.
Several studies have 14
…………………… this notion. And some have only found an
effect of food additives on the behavior of children diagnosed with extreme hyperactivity. In
this latest research, children generally 15…………………… poorly to the mixtures. “We have
found an adverse effect of food additives on the hyperactive 16
…………………… of 3-year
old and 8- to 9-year-old children,” the researchers write.
Stevenson has this message for parents: “Parents should not think that simply taking these
additives out of food will prevent all hyperactive 17
……………………. We know that many
other influences are at work, but this at least is one a child can avoid,” he says. Dr. Sue Baic
says that the study is well-designed and “potentially very important.” “It supports what
scientists have known for a long time: that 18…………………… children on diets that mainly
consist of heavily 19…………………… foods which may also be high in fat, salt, or sugar is
not optimal for health.” Others disagree. “The paper is not a 20
…………………… of cause
and effect,” says Dr. Paul Illing.