February 4, 2011

expert reaction to Lancet paper about ADHD and diet

Research claimed that certain foods and additives can worsen the behaviour of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and that restricting their diets may help.

Prof David Daley, Professor of Psychological Intervention and Behaviour Change, the Institute of Mental Health, University of Nottingham, said:

“Scientifically I think this paper offers excellent evidence about another possible underlying cause of ADHD, but it would be premature to conclude such dietary intervention would be of any real clinical benefit to children with ADHD and their parents. We need to know more about how expensive the intervention is, how motivated parents need to be to make it work, and how easy it is for parents to get their ADHD child to stick to the diet.”

Prof Jim Stevenson, School of Psychology, University of Southampton , said:

“This study provides further evidence for the potential value of dietary approaches to the treatment of ADHD. It is a condition that disrupts family life, interferes with the child’s ability to sustain friendships with other children and places the child at risk of longer term problems with attainment in school. Many parents are reluctant to use a drug treatment and it is important that alternatives such as the few foods approach can be shown to be effective.”

A restricted diet should be part of standard of care for all children with ADHD, Jan Buitelaar et al, published in the Lancet at 00.01hrs (UK time) Friday 4 February 2011.