 Surveys have shown that many adults mistakenly believe that sugar and chocolate are largely responsible for hyperactivity. However, no scientific evidence exists that chocolate causes either restlessness or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder in children. Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a diagnostic label given to children with significant problems in four areas: inattentivity, impulsivity, hyperactivity and boredom. It is a neurologically based disorder affecting about 5% of children in the United States. One or more areas of the brain may be affected by ADHD and the cause is unknown.
In 1986, the Food and Drug Administration, USA (FDA) Task Force on Sugar published a report on the evaluation of health aspects of sugar. The report reviewed numerous human studies from the previous 12 years at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and elsewhere relating to sugars consumption and behavior. It determined that there is no conclusive experimental evidence that sugar consumption causes significant behavioral changes in children and adults (1). More recent studies also have been unable to find a link between sugar consumption and behavioral changes (2,3,4). One particular study, conducted by Wolraich et al., had two sets of children, preschool (three to five years of age) and school-age (six to 10 years of age), follow a different diet for each of three consecutive three-week periods. The children were selected by parents who strongly believed they were negatively affected by sugar. One diet was high in sucrose with no artificial sweeteners, another was low in sucrose and contained aspartame as a sweetener, and the third was low in sucrose and contained saccharin (placebo) as a sweetener. The children's behavior and cognitive performance were evaluated weekly. The researchers found that there were no significant differences in behavior among the three diets (5). To investigate the possible mechanisms that may contribute to or cause ADHD, studies have looked at brain glucose metabolism in different regions of the brain, serotonin, lipid and catecholamine levels (6, 7,8,9,10). Although there have been reports of low glucose metabolism in certain parts of the brain and others reporting low cholesterol and serotonin levels for children with the condition, the causes of ADHD in children and adults are yet to be determined. References - Glinsmann WH, Irausquin H, Park YK. Evaluation of Health Aspects of Sugars Contained in Carbohydrate Sweeteners, Report from the FDA's Sugars Task Force, 1986. J Nutr 1986;116(11S):S1-S216.
- Roshon MS, Hagen RL. Sugar consumption, locomotion, task orientation, and learning in preschool children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 1989;17(3):349-57.
- Kanarek RB. Does sucrose or aspartame cause hyperactivity in children? Nutr Rev 1994;521(5):173-5.
- Krummel DA, Seligson FH, Guthrie HA. Hyperactivity: is candy causal? Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 1996;36(1-2):31-47.
- Wolraich ML, Lindgren SD, Stumbo PJ, Stegink LD, Applebaum MI, Kiritsy MC. Effects of diets high in sucrose or aspartame on the behavior and cognitive performance of children. N Engl J Med 1994;330:301-7.
- Spivak B, Vered Y, Yoran-Hegesh R, Averbuch E, Mester R, Graf E, Weizman A. Circulatory levels of catecholamines, serotonin and lipids in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1999;99:300-4.
- Cook EH Jr, Stein MA, Ellison T, Unis AS, Leventhal BL. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and whole-blood serotonin levels: effects of comorbidity. Psychiatry Res 1995;57:13-20.
- Ernst M, Cohen RM, Liebenauer LL, Jons PH, Zametkin AJ. Cerebral glucose metabolism in adolescent girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1997;36:1399-406.
- Zametkin AJ, Liebenauer LL, Fitzgerald GA, King AC, Minkunas DV, Herscovitch P, Yamad EM, Cohen RM. Brain metabolism in teenagers with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1993;50:333-40.
- Zametkin AJ, Nordahl TE, Gross M, King AC, Semple WE, Rumsey J, Hamburger S, Cohen RM. Cerebral glucose metabolism in adults with hyperactivity of childhood onset. N Engl J Med 1990;323:1361-6.
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