Dietary Replacement in Preschool-Aged Hyperactive Boys

Abstract

A 10-week study was conducted in which all food was provided for the families of 24 hyperactive preschool-aged boys whose parents reported the existence of sleep problems or physical signs and symptoms. A within-subject crossover design was used, and the study was divided into three periods: a baseline period of 3 weeks, a placebo-control period of 3 weeks, and an experimental diet period of 4 weeks. The experimental diet was broader than those studied previously in that it eliminated not only artificial colors and flavors but also chocolate, monosodium glutamate, preservatives, caffeine, and any substance that families reported might affect their specific child. The diet was also low in simple sugars, and it was dairy free if the family reported a history of possible problems with cow's milk. According to the parental report, more than half of the subjects exhibited a reliable improvement in behavior and negligible placebo effects. In addition, several nonbehavioral variables tended to improve while the children received the experimental diet, particularly halitosis, night awakenings, and latency to sleep onset.

The relevance of food for children's cognitive and behavioural health.

“…In three studies comparing hyperactive children with age-matched controls, we found no evidence of differences in sleep latency or quantity, but clear evidence that hyperactives experience night wakings more frequently (Kaplan, McNicol, Conte, & Moghadam, 1987b). In related research of hyperactive preschool-aged boys participating in a dietary intervention study, however, we could detect no relationship between serum tryptophan levels and sleep variables (Kaplan et al, in press b).…”

“…Unlike the other two replacement studies, our elimination diet excluded a broader range of foods than those targetted by Feingold, although fewer than those found by Egger et al (1985) to be possible problems. The results of our study were that roughly half of our 24 subjects exhibited approximately a 50% improvement in behaviour, also in home-based measures, while on the experimental diet (Kaplan et al, in press b).…”

“…Our own research on food-behaviour interactions, which had already begun prior to the Egger et al publication, also attempted to incorporate the possibility that there were greater individual differences in response to food than had previously been considered (Kaplan, McNicol, Conte, & Moghadam, in press b). Our work used a third type of experimental design: the replacement paradigm.…”

Food intolerance and the few-foods (or oligoantigenic) diet in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

“…Furthermore, the parental investment needed to apply a strenuous dietary intervention could underlie the relatively large effects. However, parental investment in various trials of the few-foods diet has been found to be marginal [65,[68][69][74][75] .…”

Nonpharmacological interventions for preschool ADHD: State of the evidence and implications for practice.

“…We identified two studies (Bateman et al, 2004; Kaplan, McNicol, Conte, & Moghadam, 1989) focused on diet restrictions (i.e., additive-free or few-food diets) with a focus on preschool children with or at high-risk for ADHD. In a within-subject, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study, Kaplan and colleagues (1989) observed significant effects of dietary restrictions on parent report of ADHD behaviors, on parent-identified idiosyncratic target behaviors, and on sleep outcomes; however, no significant effects were observed on behaviors as reported by daycare staff or on parent report of physical symptoms. The authors note that 42% of participants were considered nonresponders to treatment.…”