A study by researchers at the University of Southampton has shown evidence of increased levels of hyperactivity in young children consuming mixtures of some artificial food colors and the preservative sodium benzoate.

The possibility of food colors and preservatives affecting children's behavior has long been an unresolved question for parents. This significant new research by a team from the University of Southampton's Schools of Psychology and Medicine provides a clear demonstration that changes in behavior can be detected in three-year-old and eight-year-old children.

The research involved studying levels of hyperactivity in 153 three-year-olds and 144 eight-year-olds living in the city of Southampton. The children were selected from the general population to represent the full range of behavior, from normal through to hyperactive, and not for any previous behavioral problems or known sensitivities to particular foods.

The children's families were asked to put them on a diet free from the additives used in the study. Over a six-week period the children were then given a drink each day which either contained one of two mixtures of food colours and benzoate preservative, or just fruit juice - with all the drinks looking and tasting identical.

Hyperactivity is a behavior indicated by increased movement, impulsivity and inattention. The results of the Southampton study show that when the children were given the drinks containing the test mixtures, in some cases their behavior was significantly more hyperactive. These results replicate and extend previous FSA-funded research by the team in Southampton.

The research team used a combination of reports on the children's behavior from teachers and parents, together with recordings of the children's behavior in the classroom made by an observer, and, for the older children, a computer-based test of attention. None of the participants - teachers, parents, the observer, or the children - knew which drink each child was taking at any one time.

Professor of Psychology, Jim Stevenson, who led the research, comments: 'We now have clear evidence that mixtures of certain food colours and benzoate preservative can adversely influence the behaviour of children. There is some previous evidence that some children with behavioural disorders could benefit from the removal of certain food colours from their diet. We have now shown that for a large group of children in the general population, consumption of certain mixtures of artificial food colours and benzoate preservative can influence their hyperactive behaviour.

'However parents should not think that simply taking these additives out of food will prevent all hyperactive disorders. We know that many other influences are at work but this at least is one a child can avoid.'

Source: University of Southampton