Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 3, 1994 TAG: 9402030184
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
Don't blame candy bars or soda. A study concludes that sugar actually might have a slight calming influence.
"Our study would say there is no evidence sugar has an adverse effect on children's behavior," said Dr. Mark Wolraich of Vanderbilt University, who directed the research that was funded by the federal government and the food industry.
Several smaller studies over the years have looked at sugar's effect on youngsters. In general, they found no clear signs that sugar makes children hyperactive.
Yet the idea persists.
The new study, published in today's New England Journal of Medicine, attempted to address the shortcomings of earlier research, which typically tested youngsters by giving them sweetened drinks and checking for changes in their behavior.
This study controlled all food consumption for more than two months.
Aspartame, sold as Nutrasweet, also got a passing grade.
The nine-week study was conducted on 25 normal preschoolers, ages 3 to 5, and on 23 children ages 6 to 10. The older children were described by their parents as being sensitive to sugar.
Dieticians went to the children's homes and took away all food. Then they provided prepared meals for the youngsters and their families.
The meals changed in appearance each week, so the children could not be sure when they were being switched.
Among the school-age children described as sugar sensitive, the diets made absolutely no difference on any of 39 behavioral measures.
Among the younger children, differences turned up in three of 31 measurements. On one, parents' ratings of children's school work, behavior actually improved when they were on the sugar diets. Two other measurements showed the youngsters moved slower on a pegboard test when they were eating sugar.
by CNB