Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Friday 4 February 1994, page 1


Sweet disorder a hyper myth

BOSTON: Feb 2 Reuter — Researchers have found diets rich in sugar and artificial sweeteners do not change children's behaviour.

The study, to be published in The New England Journal of Medicine, debunks the widely held belief that sugar makes some children hyperactive.

In tests of 48 children, all of whom were described by their parents as sensitive to sugar, researchers from Nashville and Iowa City gave the youngsters diets rich in sugar, Nutrasweet or another artificial sweetener, saccharin.

The children or their families did not know which diets they were receiving, and the diets were kept free of additives, artificial food colouring and preservatives.

After three weeks on each diet, "there were no significant differences" in the behaviour or mental abilities of any of the children.

Twenty-three of the youngsters were between six and 10 years old. The rest were pre-schoolers.

The team, led by Dr Mark Wolraich, of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, said the type of sweetener used had no impact, though the

older children were selected for the tests because their parents believed them to be sensitive to sugar.

In an editorial in the journal, Dr Marcel Kinsbourne, of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts, said, "There is no evidence that sugar alone can turn a child with normal attention into a hyperactive child.

"The same applies to aspartame [the generic name for Nutrasweet), which has also been suspected of causing behaviour disorders in some

children.