Can food really affect children’s behaviour?
An emphatic Yes! Why emphatic? Because we have been burnt by experience – not just once but many times – and here’s our latest experience of food affecting our children’s behaviour.
Two weekends ago, Israel and I went away for 4 days to attend a conference. We left our two, usually pretty well behaved kids with my Mum. (Thanks Mum, you’re awesome!).
By day 3, our 9yo daughter was a crying mess, Mum looked like she had been on spin cycle in the washing machine – for hours – and our almost 5yo couldn’t sit still to have a conversation with us when we FaceTimed them.
Our little guy had woke up that third morning and had been misbehaving from the word go, shouting horrible things if my mum or his sister dared speak to him about his behaviour. There were tantrums and throwing things too. Just what you love to hear when you’ve left your children to be looked after by someone else!
Both Israel and I could tell by his total inability to sit still, that something more was going on here than him just missing us and acting out. We had about 20 hours until we would be home, so we would all have to let our children’s behaviour run its course.
Arriving home
When we got home, our son’s attention span was still similar to that of a gnat. Now for the delicate matter of investigating what he had eaten since being with Nanny.
We already know from prior experience that anything strawberry- or raspberry-flavoured can send him off the wall. Coloured lollies, same deal. Cheap chocolate? Look out. We checked these usual suspects out first.
Grandparents love giving treats
My mum, like any grandparent, likes to give the kids treats, especially since it was special time with her whilst we were away. We are gluten-free, but the kids froth at the mouth whenever they see Nanny having toast and vegemite, so she wanted them to have some bread. She bought some gluten-free bread, some gluten-free chocolate-coated rice cakes and seaweed-flavoured rice crackers.
“Safe” treats aren’t always what they seem
You would think these are fairly safe treats (and some folks may not even consider them treats) but upon closer inspection, we found a few hidden nasties. The bread contained Preservative 282, which is known for affecting some children’s behaviour. The seaweed crackers contained ingredient 621 (MSG) which is also well-known for affecting behaviour. Once we read these, we instantly realised why our son had been off the wall. At the same time, we wanted to slap ourselves, because our daughter had shown an extreme sensitivity to Preservative 282 when she was the same age as our son.
Solving the Chemical Maze
The picture below is a combination of two screen grabs from an awesome iPhone app called Chemical Maze. Chemical Maze helps you understand what is contained within the various named and numbered food additives, colours, flavours and preservatives you are likely to find in packaged, processed foods.
I’ve highlighted all the symptoms our son showed in yellow:
As a rule of thumb, we eat real food and not many foods that come in packets or tins. When we eat somewhere away from home, we encourage the children to eat wisely. They know how to read the ingredients label on a packet, but we initially had a few embarrassing situations where the kids kicked up a fuss about what was in the food. As a result, we’ve taken to asking them not to ask what’s in the food when we go somewhere else, and not make a big deal of it.
Perhaps a better approach would be to encourage our children to politely say “Some foods affect me, would it be OK if I just have a look at the ingredients please?” – and to share this with our well-meaning parents of friends before we leave them to be looked after.
How do you tell if your child is affected?
The only magical answer I have for you here is observation. Just watch and notice. If your child’s behaviour, sleep, concentration or mood has changed, think about what they have been eating over the last few days. The easiest starting point is to think about any new foods that have been introduced. Have you changed the brand you usually use? Have they eaten more of a certain food than usual? Food can have a cumulative effect.
You know your child best
You know your child better than anyone else. If you are constantly feeling annoyed because of your child’s behaviour, or you’re at your wits end because tantrums or hyper-behaviour seems to be on the increase, start observing. Become a detective and look at the foods and drinks they are having.
Remember, this is in no way a reflection on you. This is about what has happened to our food supply, and the number of ‘non real food’ substances that have made their way into packets on the supermarket shelves.
Additives and Preservatives that affect behaviour
The following is a list compiled from Chemical Maze – a seriously brilliant investment. I don’t get rewarded or paid for recommending this app; I just believe it’s an awesome app and it can really help bring your kids on board with the healthy food conversation. For non-readers, it’s got a visual rating system of smiley, sad and neutral faces. For older children who can read, there is loads of great information about potential affects and also where the additive or preservative is derived from.
Please note, when reading the ingredients on a label, it’s possible for these ingredients to be listed as the number or the name. Sometimes these numbers have E in front.
- 129 Allura Red
- 160B Annatto extracts
- 951 Aspartame
- 210 Benzoic Acid
- 321 Butylated hydroxytoluene
- 282 Calcium propionate
- 203 Calcium sorbate
- 635 Disodium 5′ – ribonucleotides
- 127 Erythrosine
- 132 Indigotine
- 621 MSG
- 124 Ponceau 4R
- 224 Potassium metabisulphite
- 283 Potassium sorbate
- 225 Potassium sulphite
- 280 Propionic acid
- 104 Quinoline yellow
- 281 Sodium propionate
- 200 Sorbic acid
- 110 Sunset yellow FCF
- 102 Tartrazine
The scary thing when you look into many of these additives and preservatives is that behavioural issues are only one element of the potential effects. Some have been linked to learning difficulties, liver damage, skin conditions (eg. eczema, dermatitis), sleep disturbances and more. It’s possible within Chemical Maze to select only the ingredients that trigger or affect certain symptoms like skin conditions, behavioural problems, etc.
Make a habit of checking labels
My suggestion is to make a habit of checking the ingredients on a label, and then use Chemical Maze to check what the potential effects are and what they are derived from. Ask yourself: “Do I really want my child putting this in their body?”
Share the information with your child, and ask them to help you make a better choice. Involve them and they will learn too.
If you want to read more about preservative 282 or learn more about additives and preservatives, visit fedup.com.au