Food, TV and ADHD

A host of new studies about attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder may prove both comforting and discomforting to parents whose children have the diagnosis.

The studies put some context around the disorder that affects more than 2.4 million American children and continues to perplex and frustrate their parents.

New Zealand researchers found that young children who watched more than two hours of TV a day were far more likely to have problems with concentration and attention in adolescence. And British researchers, in a widely praised study, found solid evidence that food additives, including food dyes, cause children to become more hyperactive and distractible.

The 'comforting' news is that the studies may not only offer more clarity on a fuzzy disorder, but provide alternatives or at least supplemental treatment approaches to families who don't want to rush to medication. Many parents have suspected that excessive TV and food additives had some effect on their children's behavior; the studies justify their concerns.

But taking the new findings to heart could mean making major lifestyle changes for some families. Two hours of TV viewing fly by pretty quickly. Even parents who don't think they use the television as babysitter may, upon an honest appraisal, see that their kids are in front of the set more than is healthy. And reducing the level of additives, preservatives and food coloring in their kids' diet may mean taking away just about everything they eat.

But even moderate adjustments here are likely to do their children some good. If, in a worst-case scenario, the new studies prove unreliable, families who switch to healthier, more natural foods and less time in front of the tube are sure to do their kids no harm.