Behavior Problems Caused by Diet????

Everything that Mimi said is true.
My son was also diagnosed with ADHD at 5, and when I switched his diet around to organic foods and stopped the dyes and chemicals from going in he improved dramatically. His behavior still surfaces occasionally, but I have traced it to the strawberry milk he gets at the school. I have to remind him- no strawberry milk- I pack his lunch with good foods, but he likes the little milk cartons at the school.
Ask the teacher if her behavior is consistant, or if perhaps it is worse in the mornings or afternoons...
It could be something in the breakfast or lunch.
Does she take her own lunch?
Also, I found out that my sons kindergarten teacher was handing out candy- red dyes.
He is in 3rd grade now, and does great. He still has some troubles, but I can always trace the trigger back to red dye. Start reading the labels...red dye #40 is in almost everything manufactured for children- teddy grahams, white icing, things that arent even red!
Before I changed to organic foods (in the middle of 2nd grade school year), he was getting sent to the office almost daily, suspended all the time, kindergarten to 2nd grade. He is in 3rd grade now, attending a special magnet school for gifted children, has not been sent to the office at all this year. (knocking on wood ..lol)
It is an amazing difference.

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M. my son had ADHD and we were told about it when he was having problems at school with his teacher...funny thing after taking him out of kindergarten and waiting until age 6...he didn't have the same problems, meaning we put him in prek again with his same teacher after we took him out of kindergarten and she didn't have the same problems like the kindergarten teacher did.... funny huh?? we thought he needed his tonsils out, change his diet, needed special ed classes...turns out it really was his teacher in his case. Once a child is marked it's hard for many in that profession to rise above it and give the kid a chance later. Just like the adult world so we ent to another school in fact a charter school they had no idea about my son's previous year he was treated very well and therefore he acted very respectful he ended up on honor roll every grading period and loved school after that change....so my opinion yes it can be stress related....my son (oh boy) ran around the classroom....after he returned to prek he didn't, why? for one thing that teacher treated him as the other student very well.....sorry but I think you should consider withdrawing her and doing something different, home school until next yr, try prek again, look for a charter school.....but if she was my little girl and I've lived this before I'd take her out and stop this situation for getting any worse...also did you know you can put your child in another school public in your area??? that's what I understand. I took my son out right after the Dec holiday break and I have no regrets and he's still doing very well...even with his ADHD and no one at his new school even knows about it.

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Hi M.,
Of course I don't know all the details of your story, so just scrap my advice if it doesn't makes sense to you, but I think if she shows improvement on the weekend that it's not a diet thing. I only know one thing about behavior stuff and that is what has always worked for me. My two boys are teenagers now and are still very responsible and do great in school, etc. (i'm lucky) . I have always focused only on the positive behavior and praised them and let them know how proud I am of them. I have seen friends who punish their kids for doing stuff wrong and it's weird but it only serves to perpetuate the bad behaviors because the kids then consider themselves troublemakers. She's probably getting a lot of attention and focus on her school antics and maybe even likes going to the office because of the attention she receives. She can control her behavior if she is better on the weekends. Why not try completely ignoring that stuff and smother her with praise about anything she does well. Worth a try, right?
Best of luck,
K.

http://www.savannahgourmet.blogspot.com

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Hi M.,

It could absolutely be diet. Even though she's eating the same thing doesn't mean the manufacturer of her favorite foods hasn't changed the pesticide or the preservative that they use on the food. I just went to the Bread Outlet the other day and they had the same item for two different prices. I was curious so I read the label. The 50 cent item had methyl paraben in it as a preservative and the dollar piece did not...Both pesticides and preservatives are synthetic chemicals and can contraindicate just like meds do. Most of these NEW neurological disorders are simply toxic overload. Synthetic chemicals are everywhere and can not be completely avoided but you can remove them from your home, and her little body, and build her immune system so she has a fighting chance.

I also want to ask if she just recently got any vaccines. There are so many dangerous chemicals in them not just the mercury that most moms know about. Formaldehyde is one of the most common...

Take a look at my website and see what I do and why. My daughter's diagnosis of ADHD was completely removed when I detoxed my house and her young body. It's not an expensive process and I guarantee EVERYONE in your family will feel better.

Regards,

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

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M.
I believe that your daughter doesn't like school. I think that she is acting up so that the principal will tell her not to come back to school, so that she can stay at home with you. If her behavior was caused by what she ate, it would have started a few years back.
P. S

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There is no harm in controlling her diet to check. Testing for Celiac disease is sometimes done to rule it out. My son did so much better when we used no processed foods, no refined sugars, no dyes, no preservatives and no caffine. He graduated from Ga Tech several years ago without medication despite his attention issues. Use experts. A developmental pediatrician is one. Marcus Institute has great services and expert advice. Parents Educating Parents and Professionals can help you with the school system. Structure and consistency are the best parenting skills for children. Keep her busy with peers-sports, clubs, choirs, etc. She will learn from them.

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Yup, could totally be diet. Could be a food allergy even. Milk allergies sometime masquerade as behavioral problems.

M.,
You stated that your daughter behavior improves when she is at home. It appears, that she is acting out, at school, only because she does not like being away from home. Also, You will need to check with her teachers, and see if something is going on in class that you are not aware of.

At this point I would not rule out anything! Has she been on antibitoics recently? I would try getting pro and pre biotics in her in case it is a yeast infecttion and I ask about the antibiotics as they throw off the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut and can really mess with your system. I would also think stress would be HUGE. I am sure you must be asking her about her teacher and class mates but keep on as she might not even know what is upsetting her. I have one child who I can't seem to understand her behavior and we just keep plugging along and trying to underswtand her. If it is any encouragement I have 11 and still can't figure her out even with all the experience I have!

Praying for the best for you and your family!
K.

I think that for some children this is the case. I have a friend who has taken her entire family off of processed foods to avoid the High Fructose Corn Syrup and Red #5 food coloring. The difference in her son is amazing! They did discover that he has dyslexia, but that was hard to determine because all of the processed food was making the child so hard to manage.

They also home school.

I would say that it is good for EVERYONE to eat better. It is really hard if you are a single mom who has to work. You need to do a great deal of research. Do an elimination diet with her and control EVERYTHING that she eats. That is hard with school.

There are MANY great books on eating better. There is a great one,by Barbara Kingsolver called "Animal, Vegetable Mineral" which, while it is all about carbon footprints and the real cost of eating the way that we eat in America--it has wonderful recipees for eating healthier. It relies on local food sources.

There are books on how to do it, how to get started, and thousands of cookbooks. I was raised by people who looked like the Cleavers but ate like the hyppie's so some of that is almost second nature to me.

It is not easy. Sometimes I think we rely too heavily on drugs to manage problems that are created by our environment. Whether failure to discipline, or actual chemical reactions in her body, I think the work is more than worth it. They are not careful enough about prescribing drugs that they have no clue about the side effects. I would try diet before I let them put her on some type of drug. I am so sorry that you are having to do this. Also, you should read Jenny McCarthy's "Mother Warriors" for inspiration! You can work through this situation. Stay on top of it...she is worth it!

Wait a minute. There was no problem until she started kindergarten, and even now she's fine on the weekends?
Sounds to me like there's obviously some kind of problem associated with the school or classroom in some way.

Maybe there's an issue with how she's adapting to that particular classroom - too much routine or structure, or maybe not enough. Maybe she's having problems adapting to the environment, or she isn't fitting in with the other kids, or just not fitting in with that class or teacher or even the school.

I mean, you can always improve your diet, but because of the 2 reasons above, I don't think that's the issue.

I'm concerned that your perdiatrician was so quick to jump to ODD. So she's not happy at school - why is that a disorder? If it was an adult who started a new job and having a hard time (unhappy or underperforming), how many people would immediately respond that the person had some kind of disorder? Wouldn't your first response be that maybe the person is a bad fit for that job and should try something else?

I have a cousin whose little boy has been diagnosed with ODD, although he always seemed like a normal child to me. Now that he's "medicated" he walks around like he's stoned all the time. Please "hesitate before you medicate". Holding her back a year or changing classrooms or even changing schools are all preferable alternatives to be tried before medication.

yes it can be made worse by diet , BUT not every child responds to elimination of dyes, suger, caffine, etc. neither one of my kids get sugar,dyes, or caffine. I tried a test I made some red cool aid gave them nothing but that for a week, there was no change in behavior. BUT changes can cause kids that are ADD , ADHD , ODD and spirited to melt down. Check out the books Raising your spirited child , The out of sync child, and Transforming the difficult child. They are good reads and will give you tools to cope with having a kid that "more".

Not sure about diet??? An article describing an Oppositional Defiant Child is what put the red light on for me - it seemed as though they were somewhat describing my child. Although my child never hit out at me as described in the article. This led me to have my child tested through the school system - she was diagnosed in the 1st grade as ADHD. She is now 16 years old, and we are now reevaluating her for further assistance in school due to I'm panicking about her grades and her hopes for further her education.
The ADHD clinic staff did however say there are some corelation to different dyes in food and food products contributing to the factors of ADHD, therefore it is a possibility?
My child when allowed to have her own schedule and do things on her own time table is a better child - if you try to pin point her she can be very defiant and oppositional.
Good luck - it isn't an easy task dealing with a child with these issues. I'm afraid I'm not as consistent as needed, I deal with one day at a time and moment by moment. She does take medication - during the week - recommended for every day including weekends.

Good luck - I'm a mom of 4 - my 16 year old the youngest.

M.

My grandson has ODD and was misdiagnosed for two years as having bipolar with ADHD. The very first thing we tried for him, though, was change of diet, only organic foods, etc. and it did nothing to help as far as we could see. Yet, I know that there are children who ARE helped by these methods and I am convinced that our children get way too many toxic substances sneaked into their systems through processed foods and toxic dyes and other chemicals and it does affect their behavior, their health, etc. If you have not tried change of environment and/or change of foods and other things your child is in contact with, that should be done immediately. There are good ideas in the other posts for doing this. Even the dyes in her clothes could be a factor. You probably won't be able to replace her wardrobe, but it would be smart of you to begin buying only organic clothing for her, as well. Google in "empowering parents" and there are some great websites, too, with good behavioral methods for ODD kids on the internet. ODD kids are frustrating, but they are worth the extra effort, as I know you know! I pray that your detoxing of her and her foods and surroundings will do the trick, but if it does not, keep up your advocacy for her and don't give up. Research thoroughly any drugs the MD's give her before you agree to give them to her, too.

M.- Yes, bad behaviour can absolutely be the result of diet...however- My middle son who is 5 just started K this year and is having a hard adjustment as well- IT's a long day to get used to- plus you have to consider the classroom- is the teacher structured? is she used to structured time? Are there problem children in the class? Is she being picked on? - For my son- I think it's a combination of being overtired-and exposed to a whole new world of people out there! Plus- I dont' know about your school- but unfortunately- our school offers a LOT of sweets and candy as reward or "special treats" My kids can't handle the sweets- I am also just finding out that we may have a gluten sensitivity in our family (and my oldest is 7!!) WE are going to have a test done on my oldest to see if this might be the problem- we took him off of it for about 6 weeks- and his behaviour really lightened and he was more compassionate- focused more- then we we put him back on it- back to square one again. It might be worth looking into a blood test for allergies (scratch test wont show a lot of them)There s a lot of unknown, undiagnosed food allergies lurking around these days!
Good luck
feel free to contact me if needed.
Nikki

Hi Puzzled!!

I think her actions are explained in a few ways. First, is this her first time away from home? I am not sure about the schooling system but is there a K4 that she did last year or is this her first year away from home? Being in the psychology field, I think you are doing the right thing by giong to a doctor for advice but have you ever thought of counseling? I only ask this because sometimes the answers are right in front of our facees but it takes an outside to point them out. Perhaps you can start with her school counselor and see what the other kids do as well. Just some suggestions. Hope it gets better soon!!!!

I agree with Mimi 1000%!!! She needs a detox asap! And a boost! This is critical for her improvement and her life! Chiropractic can slso help with boosting the immune system. Her neological system is controlled by her spine, chiropractic can help it function at its best. If you combined this care with the detox of her body and house, I would bet you'll have a completely different child in a matter of weeks! For the better. I wish you the very best!

I have a friend that teaches K and I had her read your post. She says that either your daughter isn't read for school yet and needs to try again next school year or she isn't fitting in with her classroom and needs a different teacher. She says that just because a child reaches the age to attend school doesn't mean that they are ready for it for many reasons ranging from not able to be away from home/parent that long to unable to control themselves so they aren't disruptive to the other kids (emiotional system isn't mature yet). If it is the classroom, it could be a laundry list of issues from how the teacher interacts to how the class is set up as far as routine and structure.

Now here is my 2cents!! lol I would talk to her teacher and principle together and see if you could change her to a different class room all together. Give it two weeks and see if her behaviour changes and how. If she is getting better, then great, leave her in that room for the rest of the year, if not, then pull her out all together and either try again next year or try a different school all together. And don't let the principle argue with you about changing classrooms, you have that right to do so especially in your situation. If the change is allowed to be made, talk up the new room with your daughter about how great it will be and making new friends and what not.

Good luck!!
S.

My son was diagnosed with ADHD and ODD in pre-k. He is 10 now and after trial and error, different meds, no meds, diet, behavior therapy. I have found that for him, he needs his meds first and foremost. WE, not just he, also need the cognative and behavior therapy. I also give him supplements to help his mood and keep him from having too much of a rebound effect when the meds wear off.

Contrtolling his diet doesn't make a huge difference, but the amount of sleep he gets does! So does making sure he gets plenty of excersize and outdoor (green) time.

With my son, the more people who are around, the worse his behavior is. He can't process everything going on around him, and gets overstimulated. I find that at school, if he can be removed from the situation when it gets out of hand and spend some time alone, he can handle things better.

i'm told my daughter has adhd and odd. after her 1st day of kingergarten she said "mommy it's so big and there are so many kids". this child has been in day care since she was 7 weeks old but the move to the "big" school totally freaked her out. now she's 7 and doing 1st grade over again. 1st time she has a teacher she likes and guess what? a's and b's. total 180% on the behavior. her teacher is not a pushover but the two of them gel and it has helped 110%. she's been on adhd meds since she was 5 1/2. we also did family behavior therapy and that helped a great deal to get a better handle on things at home. we tried the diet and suppliments. all children are different. i have discovered that when my child acts out it's because of something....she's not a talker, she acts out. we decided to re-do 1st grade so she could mature and gain some confidence. so far it's working great. i highly recommend behavior therapy and always tell her about the good things she does.

good luck.

We started seeing a naturopath for my son's behavior problems, and yes, he did prescribe a custom diet along with custom supplement program after doing some testing and finding out what is causing the behavior problems. No sugar, no wheat. He is already showing some improvement. Tell me where you live and I can recommend a naturopath or homeopath.

M.,
It almost seems like something or someone is upsetting her at school. Especially if she is doing everything to get out of the class. Teacher/classmate? I would definately be asking these questions. Possibly not your child's issues at all. With the behavior being so much better on the weekends it sounds like she is making a statement about her enviorment.
Just my input.
Sincerely,
R.

My first question would be why is the behavior only exhibited during the week? I'm a little concerned about your Pediatrician putting such a harsh label on her behavior. Is your daughter eating the same thing during the weekend and what is it?? I'm not sure that is the culprit because that food would not stay in her stomach for long especially if it is sugar. Have you asked her about this? I know the vocabulary is limited because of her age but she may give you something to work with. You have to be careful not to lead the discussion and ask very open questions in case she tells you something that have to act on. I say that because I have a child who at the age of two was able to tell us that his babysitter had hit him! I'm not saying it is anything that traumatic but she is your best source. Maybe try play acting with her to see what goes on during the day at school. Ask her how she feels about going to the office and find out her motivation for going there. It sounds like she is trying to get out of the classroom and has found a sure fire way to do it. I don't know if "stress" is the answer...she may just be bored! Another thought is there may be a kid in the class who she is trying to get away from. Hope this helps! Talk to her and you may be amazed by what you find out!

Processed foods with artificial colors, flavorings, sweeteners, and the loads of sugars and hydrogenated fats in the typical American diet are bound to be doing harm! I would go with an all-natural diet even if you find that the behavior is caused primarily by something else.

That said, my husband acted out in school for several years when he was young because he hated being away from home where he felt safe and comfortable. I imagine the course of his entire childhood could have been changed had his parents handled it differently.

Any chance that you could put off kindergarten for a year (not mandatory until 6yrs), or homeschool for now?

Hi M.,
First of all, I sympathize with what you are going through. The great thing about you as that you get that your daughter is struggling and you are not assuming she is just a pain or a bad personality. So many people make that mistake.

Your daughter clearly has the genetic setup to be effected - that absolutely does not mean you cannot turn it around. My son is recovered from Asbergers (grandfather with manic, uncle with adhd). He is a beautiful testiment that with dedication and education and lifestyle and medicine (not, not class 2 drugs), she can get rid of this.

A couple of things I might recommend:

1) Read the Sensory sensitive child book. This will help you understand what events in a day that are setting her off/causing her discomfort and thus, act out (bright lights, colors, too much noise, etc). You might be able to spot what about school is sending her over the edge and perhaps accomodate it.
2) visit and scour www.generationrescue.com
3) read "Healing the childhood epidemics" by Kenneth Bock, MD
4) Based on the medical recovery of my son (using conventional and alternative treatments) , I have learned that ODD, OCD, ADD, ADHD, dislexia, Bipolar, Autism are all based in the same root problems. There are a set of problems that are different for each individual genetic makeup per child, but cause the biochemistry of the body to alter (causing neurotransmitters to be off, causing the nervous system to fail to work together, etc). As you read, read for information without getting caught up in the diagnosis or even the direct behavior.
5) Many celiacs report having these types of problems prior to being diagnosed, many children are not qualifyable celiacs, but react to gluten and casein with violent styles of behavior. Many children only 1 month off gluten and casein will see drastic improvements. Search GFCF in the web to find much info. There is a doc called "10 weeks to GFCF" by an organization called TACA that is fabulous. It can be tough, so this step by step process makes it doable and it can be the single best thing you can do in the beginning to start treating her.

I could type all day, but please know that this disorder, as well as many other childhood disorders, are based in a physical, solvable (albeit with much work) problems.

Thinking of you and praying for your patience.

J.