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July 24, 2008 9:04:02 AM CDT

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Additives Do Make Kids Hyper

Posted Sep 6, 07 6:39 AM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Adding fuel to a long-simmering debate, a British study has found that additives in sweets and soft drinks can indeed produce hyperactivity and disruptive behavior in children. The findings were so dramatic that the British government is issuing guidelines warning parents of kids with behavioral problems to avoid foods containing the additives, the Guardian reports.

Children from 3 to 9 years old were given mixtures of additives, including food colorings and sodium benzoate, a preservative used in soft drinks, in amounts comparable to what they might eat in a typical day. Some children showed significantly more disruptive behavior; some didn't. The altered behavior occurred in both children who had been diagnosed as hyperactive and some who had not. The study is detailed in this month's Lancet.

Source Guardian (UK)

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Diet Coke has the additives that caused disruptive behavior in kids in the new British study.   ((c) diaper)
Diet Coke contains some of the chemicals found to cause hyperactivity in children.   (KRT Photos)
Skittles contain some of the chemicals found to cause hyperactivity in children.   ((c) sunshinecity)
Skittles contain some of the chemicals found to cause hyperactivity in children.   ((c) j rg)
Skittles contain some of the chemicals found to cause hyperactivity in children.   ((c) :: Suwaif ::)
Orangina contains some of the chemicals found to cause hyperactivity in children.   ((c) jm3)
8 oz Diet Cokes   ((c) diaper)
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health  • children  • food  • science  • junk food  • soda  • candy  • behavior


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