{"id":4271,"date":"2015-08-24T22:12:43","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T12:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therootcause.com.au\/?p=4271"},"modified":"2015-08-24T22:12:43","modified_gmt":"2015-08-24T12:12:43","slug":"can-food-really-affect-childrens-behaviour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therootcause.com.au\/can-food-really-affect-childrens-behaviour\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Food Really Affect Children’s Behaviour?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit: Pixabay Vlynn<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Can food really affect children’s behaviour?<\/h3>\n

An emphatic Yes! Why emphatic? Because we have been burnt by experience – not just once but many times – and\u00a0here’s our latest experience of food affecting our children’s behaviour.<\/p>\n

Two weekends ago, Israel and I went away for 4 days to attend a conference. We left our two, usually pretty well behaved\u00a0kids with my Mum. (Thanks Mum, you’re awesome!).<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our little guy had woke up that third\u00a0morning and had been misbehaving from the word go, shouting\u00a0horrible things if my mum or his sister dared speak to him about his behaviour. There were\u00a0tantrums and throwing things too. Just what you love to hear when you’ve left your children to be looked after by someone else!<\/p>\n

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\u00a020 hours until we would be home, so we would all have to let our children’s behaviour\u00a0run its course.<\/p>\n

Arriving home<\/h3>\n

When we got home, our son’s attention span was still similar to that of a gnat.\u00a0Now for the delicate matter of investigating what he had eaten<\/em> since being with Nanny.<\/p>\n

We already know from prior experience\u00a0that\u00a0anything strawberry- or raspberry-flavoured can send him\u00a0off the wall. Coloured lollies,\u00a0same deal. Cheap chocolate? Look out. We checked these usual suspects out first.<\/p>\n

Grandparents love giving treats<\/h3>\n

My mum, like any grandparent,\u00a0likes 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\u00a0them to have some bread. She bought some gluten-free bread,\u00a0some gluten-free chocolate-coated rice cakes and seaweed-flavoured rice crackers.<\/p>\n

“Safe” treats aren’t always what they seem<\/h3>\n

You would think<\/em> 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\u00a0Preservative 282<\/strong>, which is known for affecting some children’s behaviour. The seaweed crackers contained ingredient 621 (MSG)<\/strong>\u00a0which 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.<\/p>\n

Solving the Chemical Maze<\/h3>\n

The picture below is a combination of two screen grabs from an awesome iPhone app called Chemical Maze<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

I’ve highlighted all the symptoms\u00a0our son showed in yellow:<\/p>\n

\"Preservative<\/p>\n

As a rule of thumb, we eat\u00a0real food<\/strong> and not many foods that come in packets or tins. When we eat\u00a0somewhere away from home,\u00a0we 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\u00a0not<\/em> to ask what’s in the food when we go somewhere else, and not make a big deal of it.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How do you tell if your child is affected?<\/h3>\n

The only magical answer I have for you here is observation<\/strong>. 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\u00a0changed the brand you usually use? Have they eaten more of a certain food than usual? Food can have a cumulative effect.<\/p>\n

You know your child best<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Remember, this is in no way a reflection on you.<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

Additives and Preservatives that affect behaviour<\/h3>\n

The following is a list compiled from Chemical Maze<\/a> – a seriously brilliant investment.\u00a0I don’t get rewarded or paid for recommending this app;\u00a0I 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.<\/p>\n

Please note, when reading the ingredients on\u00a0a label, it’s possible for these ingredients to be listed as the number <\/em>or the name. Sometimes these numbers have E in front.<\/em><\/p>\n