[QUOTE=Jackmannii]
I can’t find the paper online or in our library database, so it’s probably in the newest edition.
The news coverage I’ve seen gives short shrift to those questioning the significance of the study. Things to look for in the article include whether it was indeed a double blind study, what the signs and symptoms displayed were, whether they correlate with signs and symptoms of ADHD, whether they were long-term effects in these kids, whether earlier studies that failed to show these effects were limited or poorly designed (or if this description fits the current study).
And so on.
[/QUOTE]
From the print Globe and Mail:
The study consisted of 153 pre-school children and 144 children who were between 8 and 9 years old.
They were given either ordinary fruit juice or one of two drinks identical in looks and taste, one of which contained varying levels of artificial coloring and a set level of sodium benzoate. One batch with the additives contained the average daily intake of food coloring for their age groups, the other had elevated levels equivalent to two 56-gram bags of sweets for the three-year olds and four bags of sweets for the older children.
None of the children had extreme hyperactivity or attention deficit disorders prior to the study, and during the six-week study none of them consumed other foods containing sodium benzoate.
Investigators reported that the spiked drink containing higher levels of food coloring had a “significant adverse effect” on the three year olds, while both mixes increased hyperactivity in the 8 or 9 year olds.
Across the board, the children who consumed the elevated mix moved about 10% closer to an internationally accepted definition of hyperactivity.
The quote from Jim Stevenson, a professor of psychology at Southhampton was , “We now have clear evidence that mixtures of certain food colors and benzoate preservatives can adversely affect the behaviour of children”.
Bill Mahoney, associate professor of pediatrics at McMaster University said, after reviewing the study, “This isn’t taking very placid children and turning them into kids who are running all over the place.” “The effects, in general, are very small.”
Philip Shaw, a clinical fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD, said the study was probably the most comprehensive of it’s kind, but questioned whether it would have the sort of far reaching implications that it’s researchers imagined.
So, OK, the size of the study was small, but not on the order of a dozen kids in a single pre-school class.
I’m impressed by the fact that there was apparently a dosage effect in that the higher levels of preservatives had an effect in three-year olds that the lower dosage did not.
They don’t mention whether it was double blind. It seems like an obvious thing to do, and I’d be surprised if something could get peer reviewed without it, but it didn’t make the Globe and Mail .
The 10% closer to an “internationally approved definition of hyperactivity” could use some fleshing out. I’d like some details on what that definition is.
There probably is an effect, but it’s small and selective. I’m figuring it’s like salt sensitivity in hypertension. Only around 10% of the people are salt sensitives in whom sodium worsens hypertension, but if you’ve got hypertension, it’s a good idea to restrict salt, because you’re probably one of them.
Same thing here. If you have a non hyperactive child, don’t worry about the sodium benzoate, if you’ve got a hyperactive child, you might be able to ameliorate the problem with a restricted diet.