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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    How can sugar and caffeine affect a child with ADHD?

    Related Topics
    Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Children's Health Nutrition
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    Agree

    Joan Breakey

    Dietitian

    Joan is an Accredited Practising Dietitian who has specialised in diet investigation of suspected food chemical intolerance. Tolerating Troublesome Foods is her latest book. Joan … View Profile

    Of 100% of children who react to additive colours and flavours, fortunately
    only 2% react to cane sugar. Usually if colours flavours, and
    preservatives are excluded homemade food with sugar can be
    tolerated. It's important that foods with sugar be seen as a
    useful source of energy in hyperactive children but of course
    this should be in addition to essential foods, not instead of
    them. We use diet to enable a child to be his real self. It's
    not a punishment diet so we don't want it as a negative. Soft
    drinks that contain caffeine usually also contain colours,
    flavours and preservatives so they are suspect. A small amount
    of plain coffee in an older child is likely to be tolerated. At one point the use of caffeine was thought to help those with ADHD.

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