Is Halloween different for a child with ADHD? Does sugar really affect hyperactivity?
Mary Robertson, RN, states that parents should regulate the amount of sugar their children eat, but not because it causes or increases hyperactivity. “Research does not support the myth that sugar causes hyperactive behaviors.” In 1986, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a report on the effects of sugar on health. The FDA reviewed numerous human research studies from the previous twelve years at the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere, to study the relationship between sugar consumption and behavior. “The FDA found no conclusive experimental evidence that sugar consumption causes significant behavioral changes in children and adults,” explains Robertson. She adds that other studies have shown that the hyperactivity often seen in children at parties and social events is actually due to the excitement from the environment, not the food (Milich, R., Wolraich, M., & Lindgren, S. (1986). Sugar and hyperactivity: A critical review of empirical findings. Clinical Psychol
