Study finds artificial additives reduce kids' learning ability

William Atkins
Thursday, 06 December 2007 18:55

Science - Health

A study of almost 300 children in England found that artificial food additives such as colorings and preservatives--which are common in candies and soft drinks consumed by kids--increase their energy levels, which increases their hyperactivity and diminishes their learning ability.      

The children, 153 who were three years old and 144 who were eight or nine years old, were given purple drinks, however, some either contained or didn’t contain one of two types of food coloring, along with sodium benzoate (which is a general food preservative). The mixtures were intended to cause hyperactivity, what is called global hyperactivity aggregate (GHA).

English psychologist Jim Stevenson, from the School of Psychology, Department of Child Health, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, who headed the study, then had parents, teachers, and other researchers fill out surveys on the children while at school, in day care, and at home.

The results found that of the children that completed the study the ones that drank the artificial-coloring-laced purple drink had elevated hyperactivity scores on only those weeks in which they drank the concoction. On the weeks they drink the purple drink without artificial coloring they had normal scores. Also, the children that drink the purple drink without the artificial coloring also had normal scores.

Specifically, the researchers concluded in the abstract to their article, “Artificial colours or a sodium benzoate preservative (or both) in the diet result in increased hyperactivity in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the general population.”

Stevenson stated in the Science News article “Additives may make youngsters hyper” (December 1, 2007, page 349), “The hyperactivity score was elevated in both age groups—and for both drinks.”

The article (“Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial”) describing Stevenson and his co-researchers results appear in the November 3, 2007 issue of the journal Lancet (Volume 370, Issue 9598, 3 November 2007, Pages 1560-1567).

The other researchers, who were from either the University of Southampton (Southampton) or Imperial College (London), included: Donna McCann, Angelina Barrett, Alison Cooper, Debbie Crumpler, Lindy Dalen, Kate Grimshaw, Elizabeth Kitchin, Kris Lok, Lucy Porteous, Emily Prince, Edmund Sonuga-Barke, and John O. Warner.