Kleurstoffen en conserveermiddelen maken peuters hyperactief.*

Bijna alle kinderen - hyperactief of niet - blijken gevoelig voor kunstmatige kleurstoffen en bepaalde conserveermiddelen, zeggen Britse onderzoekers.
Bijna 300 kinderen beneden drie jaar van het Isle of Wight deden mee aan het onderzoek, de helft van hen hyperactief, de andere helft niet. Ze kregen een week lang geen kleur- en conserveermiddelen. De tweede en vierde week kregen de peuters dagelijks een drankje, dat de ene week uit placebo bestond en de andere week uit een drankje met kunstmatige kleurstoffen en het conserveermiddel natriumbenzoaat.
In de week van het verrijkte drankje noteerden praktisch alle ouders meer zenuwachtige bewegingen, spraakzaamheid, rusteloosheid en concentratieproblemen. Zowel bij de hyperactieve als bij de gewone kinderen.
Food colourings and preservatives make kids hyperactive

Artificial food colourings and preservatives have a "significant" impact on hyperactivity levels in very young children, finds research in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Removal of these substances could be in the long term interest of public health, say the authors.

The authors base their findings on over 1800 three year old children, who were screened for hyperactivity and allergies.

Almost 300 children, divided into four groups, completed the four week study. During the first week, the children ate only foods free of artificial additives, including colourings, such as tartrazine, sunset yellow, and carmoisine, and the preservative sodium benzoate.

During the second and fourth weeks they were randomly assigned to a daily dose of fruit juice, with or without colourings and preservatives.

The children's behaviour was assessed before the study began and regularly throughout the study period by formal clinical assessment and parental diaries. The parents were unaware which type of juice had been given to their child.

Parental ratings showed that the children became significantly less hyperactive during the period when the additives were removed from the diet, and much more hyperactive when they were put back in.

Children with more extreme forms of hyperactivity were no more or less likely to respond to dietary changes than children at the milder end of the behavioural spectrum. And the effects were seen irrespective of whether the child was hyperactive or allergic before the study began.(Mei 2005)

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