Diet and ADHD

is this a kid who can’t learn and is constantly disrupting the class…or is this a borderline guy who is managing, but is a bit of a pain in the *** and getting C’s when his potential means he could get A’s?

I think diet does help SOME, for SOME kids…I don’t think a Feingold diet is ever BAD, for anyone! But for some kids, they may not be ‘really’ ADHD but may have other problems (allergies or additive sensitivities)with symptoms that LOOK like ADHD. My nephew aged 8, given a candy called ‘big feet’ or any candy with red dye, became some kind of oppositional madman nutbar — you had to see it to believe it — but, though boisterous and strong willed, he is NOT ADHD. If he hadn’t been from a family where diet was generally quite healthy and candy was already a somewhat restricted food…might he have had problems in all walks of life, severe enough for a dx based on symptoms??? I do think this happens, and when ADHD is ‘cured’ by diet, this may be a contributing factor…

If he is managing to function in an appropriate way (not perfect, not top of the class, but not driving you and peers crazy, I mean!) then medication is an extremely personal decision…sorry, I know this is not really what you asked, but it is important to decipher the level of ‘disorder’ when deciding if meds are appropriate.

I’ve had cubs (my non-mom experience is mostly as a Cub leader) who were definitely on the ADHD spectrum, but not severely enough to prevent a reasonable level of participation, whose parents were anti-meds — I’m totally supportive in cases like that. Meds, while necessary in some cases, are NOT the optimum way to raise children and sometimes cause more problems than they’re worth for the borderline kiddos…

Kudos to you in any case for being so caring of your student!

There is research — check medline and also the NIMH study, which said that more research was necessary but that it appeared only a small number are helped by diet. The Feingold diet has something on the order of a less than 5% effectiveness rate for ADHD symptoms. I may not have that number absolutely correct, but it is close to that and very low in any event. There is some wishy washy research on supplementation of essential fatty acids, but it looks again like only a limited number of kids benefit from supplementing. Same is true for supplements like magnesium. Odds are, a child with ADHD won’t experience drastic improvement from dietary intervention, but there may be a few who do. Of course, improving nutrition (and addressing any food allergies) can help any kid, including one with ADHD,

[quote=”Elizabeth TO”] Meds, while necessary in some cases, are NOT the optimum way to raise children

![/quote]

Says you, Elizabeth TO. How great for you that your kid can be okay without medication, but you are out of line to say that giving medication to a child who hasn’t responded to other interventions amounts to sub-optimal parenting. If a child has serious ADHD symptoms, responds well to the medication and experiences no side effects, what is wrong with giving him that help? How does that amount to less than optimal child-rearing? ADHD is not overcome by either willpower or good parenting, although both can improve the outcome for children. You should try walking a mile in the shoes of a good parent whose kid needs more help than can be gained from non-medication interventions before you categorize that parent as sub-par.

I’m very sorry that I expressed myself poorly, though I think you might re-consider your response. WE all have baggage here, and it is easy to over-react based on how people have treated you in ‘the real world’.

I was not talking about severe ADHD kids — I was talking about BORDERLINE kids — whose PARENTS are against meds — I wanted to put across the message that we should let the PARENTS make med decisions.

I have several parents in my Group who med their kids. Some have severely ADHD kids. Some have borderline kids. I support BOTH.

Medication is a decision for PARENTS. If meds HELP your kid — great. But I have also seen cases where parents have been pushed to med by schools, prescribed by lazy drs., and then suffered myriad problems (sleep disturbance, 5pm downtake, appetite/weight issues) WITHOUT seeing great benefits other than a slight improvement in school attention.

If you see more benefit from the meds than side effects — THEN GREAT! OF COURSE you should use them! One must weigh pros and cons for ANY course of medical treatment. I was talking about a different situation. That’s why I ASKED for clarification before critting the poster for being a meddling so-and-so interfering in parental decisions — which she is very likely NOT. I find that teachers who post here are the type who care deeply for their students and come here to learn how best to help them — I posted to assist that effort.

By the way, do you have anything helpful to say to the original poster, or are you just venting against people who are not the ones who have critted your decisions in the past????

that when I posted the statement ‘meds are NOT the optimum way to raise children’ I was thinking of a very close friend whose children are both on meds — one for TS/ADHD, one for ADHD. They have NO CHOICE but to med — behaviour is unmanagable without. I’ve administered the doses myself. But as a family, they suffer from all the negative side effects. SUFFER. I’ve heard from many people who do…ask a parent of a diabetic child if they would call daily insulin injections ‘an optimum way to raise children’! Surely you can agree that, given a choice, you would NOT choose ADHD!

I’m still reeling from WHY you thought I was saying you (or anyone) was a bad parent for ‘choosing’ medication — for a severe ADHD child it is not really a ‘choice’ but the best of two unpalatable options…It was in this way that I meant ‘not optimum’. If a parent has a choice — as in a borderline child — and chooses not to med, HOW does that criticize those who must ‘choose’ to medicate? Even if their child is borderline and they CHOOSE medication — surely no-one would choose it unless it offered overall benefit despite the side effects?

Believe me, choosing NOT to medicate is used to sling mud at parent’s choices just as much as the opposite! Please keep that in mind before flaming!

[quote=”Elizabeth TO”]that when I posted the statement ‘meds are NOT the optimum way to raise children’ I was thinking of a very close friend whose children are both on meds — one for TS/ADHD, one for ADHD. They have NO CHOICE but to med — behaviour is unmanagable without. I’ve administered the doses myself. But as a family, they suffer from all the negative side effects. SUFFER. I’ve heard from many people who do…ask a parent of a diabetic child if they would call daily insulin injections ‘an optimum way to raise children’! Surely you can agree that, given a choice, you would NOT choose ADHD!

I’m still reeling from WHY you thought I was saying you (or anyone) was a bad parent for ‘choosing’ medication — for a severe ADHD child it is not really a ‘choice’ but the best of two unpalatable options…It was in this way that I meant ‘not optimum’. If a parent has a choice — as in a borderline child — and chooses not to med, HOW does that criticize those who must ‘choose’ to medicate? Even if their child is borderline and they CHOOSE medication — surely no-one would choose it unless it offered overall benefit despite the side effects?

Believe me, choosing NOT to medicate is used to sling mud at parent’s choices just as much as the opposite! Please keep that in mind before flaming![/quote]

So, what you really meant was that having a child with ADHD is hard and no parent would choose it if they were given that choice. That makes sense to me. Your words on the point, however, were susceptible to quite a different meaning, one that infuriates those of us who have to make the hard choices about medication and who receive constant criticism, in the media, on board like these, from zealots who think ADHD is made up, etc. You are right, parents who have to make hard decision for or against medication should not be judged for it either way.

one never INTENDS to be misunderstood! And it’s quite embarrassing when one is publicly flamed for it, especially those of us who are not anonymous. I appreciate your response…especially since we’re on the ‘same side’ of that battle. It seems that meds or no meds, there is ALWAYS someone who has an unwanted opinion…this is why it should be an individual and parental choice (of course made with advice from doctor, etc.) but NOBODY should then have another opinion on it!

I realize I could get flamed for that too, but that argument is outside the realm of generalization — that’s why I asked about the child’s level of function. Of course, if I had an un-medded cub who COULD NOT participate, was unhappy and obviously not able to function within the group, I’d be reporting this to the parents…we just don’t seem to see this, perhaps because any severe adhd’r has been dx’d by age 8 anyway…so we get them when they are in a reasonably functional state (even if some are more high maintenance than others — that’s kids!)

To the original poster — sorry for inadvertantly ‘hijacking’ your thread! The old system was so nice, where you could take a ‘side thread’ while leaving the original discussion intact…

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Tartrazine_and_ADHD/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/C_Thomas_Wild_and_ADHD/