Does the sugar in candy make children hyperactive?
The sugar, hyperactivity connection is a myth, according to Riley Hospital pediatricians Aaron Carroll, M.D., and Rachel Vreeman, M.D., both faculty members of the IU School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics. “In at least 12 double-blinded, randomized, controlled trials, scientists have examined how children react to diets containing different levels of sugar. None of these studies, not even studies looking specifically at children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, could detect any differences in behavior between the children who had sugar and those who did not,” they report. The researchers also note that even in studies of children who were considered “sensitive” to sugar, children did not behave differently after eating sugar-full or sugar-free diets. Should parents restrict their children’s sugar consumption? Carroll and Vreeman say that while sugar does not cause hyperactivity in children, this doesn’t mean that sugar is good for children. “There are many good reas
