PARENTS CATEGORIES

How Diet Can Help

Behaviour and learning problems in children can be caused by foods that are common in many family diets. If learning and behaviour programs are not working, food is almost always the missing link.

Who is affected?

Children who:

• have difficulty paying attention, staying on task, following directions, and comprehending
• are restless, irritable, difficult, defiant, aggressive or unmotivated
• have sleeping problems including restless sleep
• learning difficulties and behaviour problems

Signs that food and environmental factors may be impacting a child:

• Variations in performance
• Hyperactivity
• Impulsivity
• Poor concentration
• Irritability
• Sleep problems
• Aggression
• Oppositional behaviour
• Bowel and bladder problems
• In babies - colic or reflux, bowel problems, stomach aches
• Bedwetting, growing pains, ear infections, chronic stuffy and runny noses
• Hives, eczema, itchy skin rashes, headaches or migraines
• Asthma

Adverse reactions to food are not always easy to notice. A few children 'go ballistic' soon after eating food colours, however, many reactions are delayed.

When your child eats processed foods or highly coloured flavoured foods they may be irritable or even have a few bad days at school. Natural food colours can affect children too, especially foods containing high levels of salicylates. Food chemicals (including natural chemicals) can build up in your system gradually and can cause chronic or recurrent symptoms. There is not always a direct connection between eating a food and the symptoms. Some children are more sensitive than others. Reactions to food are usually related to the amount of foods eaten and how the food is eaten.

Common problem-causing foods

These foods are usually the ones that children crave, eat frequently and in large amounts:

• Colours and flavours in foods like soft drinks, cordials, lollies, some savoury snacks, biscuits and flavoured chips
• Natural chemicals (salicylates) in many fresh fruits, juices, dried fruits and tomato sauce
• Fast foods high in artificial and/or natural chemicals, including burgers, pizza, meat pies and two minute noodles
• Preservatives including benzoates (211) in soft drinks, cordial and some juices and 282 in breads
• Annatto food colouring (160b) which is in ‘all natural’ fish fingers, dairy foods and ice-cream
• Dairy foods, wheat and gluten grains may cause problems for many children

An elimination diet can be a good way to find out if your child is affected by food. If you would like a list of foods containing salicylates, call or email Learning Connections.