Do Artificial Food Dyes, Flavors, and Preservatives Effect a Child’s Behavior? What Do You Need to Know?

Judy Benz Duncan, Occupational Therapist

There has been many studies and reports regarding artificial food dyes, flavors, and preservatives, and their effect on children, especially those children with sensory processing disorders, ADHD, and those on the autism spectrum.

While artificial food dyes, flavors, and preservatives are a byproduct of our modern food processing system, educating yourself on where these artificial ingredients can exist in your food and drink, is the best way to avoid them and to work on making a change in your child’s and in your family’s diet plan.

Read food and drink labels - Ask for nutrition information at drive-through places - find more information on what is added to the foods you eat - See if the changes you make also make a change in your child’s behaviors - Share your experience in comments!

Parents have reported that their children who have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and are taking medications for the condition make such an improvement after eliminating Red Dye #40 from their diet that they are able to stop taking their prescription drugs. Other parents have noticed that increased hyperactivity, aggression, and other behaviors in their children may have been due to the artificial color instead of any sugar in their food.

The Federal Drug Administration suggests that while artificial colors are not the cause of ADHD symptoms, they can exacerbate symptoms in kids who struggle with inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. Eliminating food dyes from your child’s and your family's diet may help those children that are susceptible to behavioral changes after eating or drinking foods with artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.

While the link between diet and behavior is still being investigated and studied, parents and caregivers can make small changes today to improve the health of their entire family. It is important to educate yourself if you want to eliminate the amount of artificial dyes, flavors and preservatives in the food you are buying.

To help direct you in your search for more natural foods, and to know which foods and drinks you may wish to avoid, a several reference lists follow:

The FDA maintains a listing of natural and artificial food colors approved for use in food. To avoid purchasing a product with unwanted food dyes, check this ingredient list by clicking FOOD DYE AND COLOR ADDITIVE LIST

For a listing of foods that contain Red40 – please click RED40  

For a pretty long listing of foods that contain Red 40, please click RED40 FOOD DYE  https://blackdoctor.org/506290/foods-with-red-40-food-dye/

The US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health, has a summary of studies related to food coloring. This can be found by clicking on:  Artificial Food Colors and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Symptoms: Conclusions to Dye For

Feel free to share this information

Thank you for your support of TheraPlay4Kids.com