ADHD kids

Nutrition & Food Science

ISSN: 0034-6659

Article publication date: 6 February 2009

2113

Citation

(2009), "ADHD kids", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 39 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2009.01739aab.047

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


ADHD kids

Article Type: Food facts From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 39, Issue 1

Parents of children expelled from school because of behaviour problems may be motivated to take legal action following a ruling at a recent landmark case at London’s Court of Appeal. The case involved a teenager suffering from ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who had been suspended from school three times, then finally expelled in 2006 at the age of 13.

According to the girl’s mother, who has been fighting her local east London council Barking and Dagenham to clear her daughter’s name, the teenager had been unfairly discriminated against. As a result of the case, the girl and her mother have been given permission to appeal against the school’s verdict. Both parties are currently waiting for a date for the full appeal hearing.

ADHD is thought to affect around 500,000 children in this country, some of whom are also thought to have been excluded and expelled from school because of bad behaviour. The disorder affects children’s ability to concentrate, making them fidgety and disruptive in class.

If a child receives an official diagnosis of ADHD, a common course of action is to prescribe drugs such as Ritalin, which is based on the amphetamine-like methylphenidate that works by dampening part of the limbicsystem (the part of the brain that causes hyperactivity).

However, there is also a rapidly growing body of evidence that suggests diet plays a significant part in ADHD. Much research focuses on the use of essential fatty acids, such as omega-3 fish oils, and how they can help improve children’s concentration and behaviour. Many scientists now accept that behavioural problems such as ADHD are linked to a deficiency of omega-fatty acids.

EPA and learning difficulties

Dr Alex Richardson, senior research fellow at Mansfield College, University of Oxford, and University Laboratory of Physiology, University of Oxford, is a world-leading authority on fatty acids and ADHD, dyslexia and autistic spectrum disorder, published a paper in 2003 entitled “Fatty Acids in Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD, and the Autistic Spectrum”.

Research indicates that omega-3 fatty acids are more likely to help than omega-6 (although both are important for optimal brain function). Of the omega-3 fatty acids, the latest evidence indicates that it is EPA not DHA that is likely to be most beneficial for these purposes.

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are crucial for maintaining the correct structure of every cell membrane in the body, and are crucial for efficient cell messaging in the brain. Without enough fatty acids, communication between our cells ceases to operate properly; in the case of the dopamine pathway (the neurotransmitter implicated in ADHD, and the basis for which Ritalin has been formulated) this could affect functions such as attention and concentration both fundamental factors in ADHD. By restoring the levels of fatty acids in the brain, cells are able to communicate properly, and neurotransmitters resume healthy levels.

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