Study on food additives and the behaviour of young children

A group of scientists at the University of Southampton has completed a study to determine whether artificial food colourings and a preservative in the diet of three-year-old children in the general population influence hyperactive behaviour. Parents reported a general adverse effect from artificial food colouring and a benzoate preservative on the behaviour of three-year-old children but this was not detected by assessments performed in clinics. These findings are being published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood in the June 2004 issue.

For this study a total of 277 three-year-old children on the Isle of Wight were recruited. Their parents had to keep them on a diet carefully chosen to be free of the additives.  In certain weeks, the children were then given a daily drink that either contained the additives or an identical looking and tasting fruit drink.  Neither the parents nor the children knew which type of drink was being given although the study design meant that they knew when they were being tested

It was found that parents reported more disruptive and inattentive behaviours on those weeks the children received the drinks with additives, even though the parents did not know which drink was being taken. The study also found that some parents reported poorer behaviour by their children even when they had only been given the pure fruit drink.

The study was funded by the Food Standards Agency and was a collaboration between the School of Medicine and School of Psychology at the University of Southampton, and staff at the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Centre, St. Mary's Hospital, Isle of Wight.

The findings suggest that benefits may arise from removing these additives from children's diet but a number of questions remain to be answered.  For example, it is unclear why parents reported a noticeable effect from the drinks but clinical tests failed to show behavioural differences. One possibility is that the tests were not sufficiently reliable with children of this young age. In addition those families completing the study may not have been representative of all families and the effects produced by the pure fruit drink (a placebo effect) were large.
  
It is important to conduct further work, to determine whether behavioural changes can be found in older children, to try to confirm the effects reported by parents by other means, for example by observing the children's behaviour at school, and to reduce the level of placebo effects.  The Food Standards Agency has awarded the research team a contract of £750,000 to investigate these questions in the "Food And Behaviour In Children" (FABIC) Study.  This new study will also allow the investigation of children's biological reactions to food additives and how these might influence behaviour.

Professor Jim Stevenson of the University of Southampton's School of Psychology believes: "The opportunity to follow up these initial results in a new study is a significant challenge for our team.  If we can demonstrate whether or not these food additives have a detrimental effect on children's behaviour, then this will be a significant step forward."

Professor John Warner of the University's School of Medicine sees this work as the culmination of long history of involvement in research on this question:  "This further study funded by the Food Standards Agency should be able to tell us more conclusively whether these food additives are affecting children's behaviour."

Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke, Director of the Developmental Brain-Behaviour Unit in the School of Psychology said: "This FABIC Study is an excellent example of the benefits can arise when different Schools within the University bring their different skills together to apply to a very significant issue concerning children's welfare."

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