They are what they eat

Founded in 1977, the Hyperactive Children?s Support Group is a charity for hyperactive, allergic and learning-disabled children. Its founder, Sally Bunday was struggling with a small son who was proving unmanageable and turning her family?s life into a nightmare. Receiving no help from anyone, she and her mother set about searching for a solution. They were successful, and the charity became a national institution almost overnight, and I joined a few months later. By the end of five years it had received some 40,000 requests for help from distressed families.

Research

A few years before all this, an American allergist, Dr Ben Feingold, had discovered, almost by accident, a link between aggressive behaviour on the one hand and synthetic food additives and salicylates on the other. He had formulated a food programme eliminating these substances¹, which Sally Bunday adapted for use in the UK. Based principally on a balanced diet of fresh, natural foods involving local, seasonal, unrefined, unprocessed and organic produce, this proved of enormous benefit to the affected children and their long-suffering parents. Sally and the HACSG team widened their investigations to cover the whole field of biochemistry, nutrition and environmental medicine and the relationship between these and a child?s behaviour. They used and benefited from the work of, for example, Dr David Horrobin², Dr Joseph Egger³, Dr G Kroyer⁴, Professor J.A. Walker-Smith⁵, Dr Neil Ward⁶, Dr Ian Menzies⁷, M Boris and FS Mandel⁸ and many more besides.

Findings

The HACSG team encouraged all the parents who approached them to complete a questionnaire, which included details of the family?s medical history. The children?s hair was tested, or their sweat, blood or urine analysed, to assess the levels of minerals and heavy metals. The results were entered on a database at Surrey University, and analyses of this information in 1979 and 1987 made it apparent that many of the parents themselves were suffering from allergies, that nearly three-quarters of the children had been hyperactive in utero, that most of the affected youngsters were boys (from 3 to 10 boys for every girl); that many of them fair-haired and blue-eyed), and that almost all the children had an acute thirst, symptomatic of a deficiency of essential fatty acids.

Factors such as vitamins C, B3 and B6, magnesium and zinc, play an essential role in the metabolism of these acids, and a great many hyperactive children were found to be deficient in B6, magnesium, iron, selenium, chromium, and particularly zinc. Their sense of taste and smell seemed to be impaired, causing them to favour highly seasoned, salty and sugary foods. Additionally, it seemed to us that many of the children had one or more underlying conditions that were not recognised or whose causes were not addressed, and which were linked to their biochemical imbalance. These were:

A depressed immune system, giving rise to frequent virus infections;

Allergies and intolerances to foods, or to components such as salicylates, or to food additives like colourings, flavourings and preservatives, or to chemicals in the environment, or to an overload of heavy metals. These can lead to eczema, asthma, migraine, hayfever, or central nervous system problems;

Problems with the metabolism of carbohydrates (leading to hypoglycaemia), proteins such as gluten, casein and lactose (causing gut problems) and fats (giving rise to essential fatty acid deficiency);

Parasites (eg worms and lice) and yeast problems such as candida – often following the prescribing of antibiotics ? causing irritation to the central nervous system and as well as gut problems.

When their diet and environment had been overhauled according to their individual needs, not only did the hyperactive children calm down and become pleasantly manageable, but their schoolwork improved to an amazing degree. Their brains were now in focus: they could see, hear and concentrate properly; they could learn because their memory improved and they were not so easily distracted; their handwriting became more fluent; they began to speak and write more articulately; and they became more organised ? particularly those with dyslexia.

The children were also much healthier ? they had fewer virus infections, and gone were the shadows under the eyes, the stuffed-up nose and the open mouth, the pasty, spotty complexion and lifeless hair, and the acute thirst from which they had previously suffered. Their self-esteem rose as they felt more confident and won more praise, and they were clearly happier, brighter and more attentive to their surroundings.

Our activities

Over the years we have dealt with successive governments in an endeavour to obtain a fair deal for this growing band of children, many of whose parents cannot afford some of the private treatments available. We have liaised with doctors and hospitals, we have worked with schools and colleges and have co-operated with the police with a view to crime prevention.

We have opened a centre in Wimbledon, offering clinics by Dr Clive Jones, as well as workshops for parents, teachers and other professionals. Our schools pack is distributed to schools across the country, and we have links with many similar organisations around the world, besides being represented at Westminster Diet and Health Forum and Food Standards Agency stakeholder meetings. We support Sustain?s call for legislation to protect children from unhealthy food advertising, as well as the current attempt to have the Children?s Food Bill passed in Parliament. We are often approached by food producers, retailers and caterers for assistance in selecting foods and menus suitable for very sensitive children, and we produce a parents? handbook, a twice-yearly journal and a cookbook for those embarking on the Feingold diet. Our staff and contacts are available to offer support and information on our helplines, and we now have a website, www.hacsg.org.uk . We are currently producing a new video film of our work.

Conclusion

Before the end of rationing fifty years ago, in the days when common sense and nutritional needs prevailed and the giant food industry was in its infancy, the responsibility for feeding children rested with their parents, guided by the experts and specialists of the day.

Detailed charts and tables were given as to what children should be eating at what age, at what time of day and in what quantities, accompanied by menus and recipes, and strict instructions, for example:

"Avoid giving young children the following foods: pork in any form, kidneys, veal, pastries, fried foods, sweets, tea, coffee, alcohol, flavourings and spices, rich cakes, sweet biscuits, 'fizzy' drinks, new bread, hot buttered toast or scones".9

This is a far cry from the diet increasingly aimed at them since – sugary cereals, chips, pizzas, burgers, sausages, heavily coated fish fingers and chicken nuggets, confectionery and crisps and so on, washed down with huge amounts of fizzy drinks and squash!

Sally Bunday?s son, and mine, are now in their 30?s, and have done wonderfully since those difficult early days. Over the years we have been deluged by letters from grateful parents, expressing their relief and describing the remarkable improvements their children, too, have shown. We reckon we have steered many thousands of children away from truancy, proneness to accidents, delinquency, drug-addiction, alcoholism, smoking, arson and crime, and prevented many school exclusions. We have probably saved the government a fair amount of money, too!

Good slow food is a culture we are passionate about, and one we can hardly do without, since we all have to eat. In our opinion food is too important for it to be marketed to children along with (or sometimes masquerading as) toys or gimmicks, and should be taken much more seriously by everyone as a vital component of a happy, healthy, civilised human being. And if our food culture has to be changed following these lessons of the past twenty-seven years, that can only be good news for the children of the future.

References

1. Dr. Ben Feingold, Paediatrician and Chief Emeritus in Allergy: “Why your Child is Hyperactive” and “Introduction to Clinical Allergy” (1973, published by Charles Thomas)

2. David Horrobin, M.D., Ph.D.: “The Causes of Hyperactivity in Children” (Perspectives 1981)

3. Prof. J. Egger et al: The Lancet 339, pps 1150-1153 (1992)

4. Dr. G. Kroyer: “Artificial Food Colours as Additives: Effect on Digestive Systems”, Ernaehrung/Nutrition Vol. 10,7 (1986)

5. Professor J. Walker-Smith: “Milk Intolerance in Children”, Clinical Allergy 16, pps 183-190 (1986)

6. Dr. Neil Ward: “The Influence of Chemical Additives on the Elemental Status of Hyperactive Children”, Journal of Nutritional Medicine 1, pps 51-57 (1990)

7. Dr. I.C. Menzies: “Disturbed Children: Role of Food and Chemical Sensitivities”, Nutrition and Health Vol. 3, pps 39-54 (1984)

8. M. Boris, M.D. and F.S. Mandel, Ph.D.: “Foods and Additives are Common Causes of AD/HD in Children”, Annals of Allergy Vol. 72, pps 673-679 (1981)

9. Sir F. Truby King, C.M.G., M.B., B.Sc.: “Mothercraft” (1934, revised by M. Truby King 1939)

Gillian R. Western is the Honorary Chairman of the Hyperactive Children?s Support Group