Childress 1 Karly Childress Mr.

Duffus English 102, Section 063 May 3, 2010

Drink Smart. Snack Healthy. Eat Right and Stay Calm Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder is one of the most commonly diagnosed diseases in the world. Children have to go through thorough tests to be diagnosed with this disorder. Doctors have to make absolute certain that they are diagnosing their patient based on the apparent symptoms. ADHD is acknowledged as a mental disorder in which children indicate continuous lack of attention exercises (attention-deficit) and an incapability of controlling their impulses of physical movement (hyperactivity) that is not normal for a child at that given age (Goepp, MD 85). If youve noticed these symptoms in your child where it be a decrease in their grades at school or unusual behaviors at home, you may want to take immediate actions to reduce these manifestations. Mothers that have children who are diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder have a hard time keeping their children calm and attentive. Your child is very energetic and running around the house bouncing off walls but how can we solve this problem? Doctors prescribe medicines such as Ritalin or Strattera to help control ADHD childrens symptoms. If your child gets tired of having to take a pill everyday, what other solution can you try to help control your childs behavior? The solution is to have a diet that includes foods and drinks that provide an effective way to control your ADHD

Childress 2 childs behavior by applying a simple nutritional supplementation. Drinking smart, snacking healthy, and eating right are three vital essentials for your child to have a normal, relaxed lifestyle. Children are diagnosed with ADHD because of their lack of attention and hyperactivity but also because of their numerous deficiencies. These dietary deficiencies can be solved with a nutritional supplementation, which also provides a much broader and safer strategy (Goepp, MD 86). By applying these deficiencies into your childs life, you will be reducing and nearly eliminating their inattention and hyperactivity symptoms. Vitamin and mineral supplementation (zinc and magnesium) may help to increase your childs success in school (Goepp, MD 86). It is essential to maintain concentration in school otherwise your child will not gain the knowledge they need to further them in school. Unsaturated fatty acids, such as the omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids, may have an influence on your childs ADHD behavior because they are very important aspects of cell membranes and help communicate between nerves and other cells, (Geopp, MD 86). Providing a diet that includes DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) your childs brain will work together to promote a longer lasting attention span in your child during school. Amino acids are found to be low in ADHD childrens blood (Geopp, MD 87). These amino acids are essential to helping your child pay more attention school and therefore also benefiting their success in school. ADHD children have many more deficiencies as well as these listed that you might also want to look into incorporating into their daily meals to ultimately terminate their symptoms all together.

Childress 3 DRINK SMART Check the labels for artificial food dyes. When you go to grab a fruit juice to drink, you first notice the color of the drink. Certain fruit juices have their natural color however majority of them have artificial coloring added to the drink. The article, Diet and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Can Some Food Additives of Nutrients Affect Symptoms? The Jury is Still Out, published in the Harvard Mental Heath Letter confirms that a study 153 preschoolers and 144 elementary students testing their behavior when consuming a drink that contained a variety of six artificial food dyes did directly affect their behavior in school and in their daily life (4). This study was performed on both healthy children and children diagnosed with ADHD (4). Therefore artificial food dyes, which are included in millions of foods and drinks, are affecting your children. The author of "CSPI Urges FDA to Ban Artificial Food Dyes Linked to

Behavior Problems" states that there are eight artificial food dyes (Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, and Yellow 6) that connect to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children. So when you are grocery shopping, pay attention to the labels to make sure these artificial colorings are not included in the drinks and also pay close attention to the sugar that is in each of your drinks.
Stay away from fizzy, carbonated drinks. Soft drink companies know how to attract consumers. They have spent tons of time and money trying to figure out what will attract our attention mainly through

Childress 4 advertisements. They create catchy slogans and new labels every so often to prove that they are contently changing their product to benefit us. However, not many of us actually know the nutritional facts about soft drinks. In a 20 ounce Coca-Cola bottle there is approximately sixty-five grams of sugar. Lien, author of "Consumption of Soft Drinks and Hyperactivity, Mental Distress, and Conduct Problems Among Adolescents in Oslo, Norway, states that over the years parents and teachers have noticed that attention problems have occurred in children with a high sugar intake (1815). Teachers see your children eight hours out of the day during school which requires much needed attention in order for them to understand the material in the classroom therefore they can notice particular changes in a childs behavior. A study was conducted on a little more than seven thousand Norwegian students on whether soft drinks can affect mental health problems. They discovered that the amount of sugar in soft drinks indeed caused social and behavioral problems for 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys (1816). So when considering a drink, you need to venture away from the soft drinks and onto a more healthier choice of drink. Thirst yourself with a healthy version of the southern drink. When you think of tea, you would never consider it a healthy choice for your child to drink. According to John Foxe, a professor of neuroscience, found that an amino acid, theanine, that is found in green tea has shown to decrease in the brains alpha waves therefore causing them to pay attention to the task at hand (Shulman). By drinking green, your child not only is going to calm down but they are also going to raise their deficiencies in amino acids. Green tea has shown to improve attention and relaxation in an ADHD child and therefore a healthy choice whereas water

Childress 5 provides no significant changes for an ADHD child however it is the overall most common healthy drink. Water sucks. It really, really sucks. Water sucks. Or not? Water is proven to be the healthiest drink although the quote from the popular movie, The Waterboy, might come to childs mind when they think about drinking water. Anytime anyone talks about drinking water they say how it has such a bland taste so why should children drink it? I think of water as more of a required taste. It is a known fact that water is good for you and its the best drink to hydrate you throughout the day so you more or less talk yourself into enjoying this drink. On a hot summer day, what drink do you thirst for? Refreshing water. Children are not going to try something new on their own; they need a little push so change their perspective on water. SNACK HEALTHY Eliminate trips to the vending machines. Vending machines scream unhealthy. The author of "Unhealthy foods bulk of school vending machine choices" points out that eight-five percent of snack foods sold in vending machines included poor nutritional value (7). Some of the common snack foods that are sold in vending machines are food snacks and potato chips. In a standard size Doritos Nacho Cheese chips found in vending machines contains thirteen grams of total fat and thirty grams of carbohydrates. The percent of total fat and carbohydrates in one bag is 46.8% fat and 48% carbohydrates, which is refined sugars. Thats a ton of fat and sugar in one chip bag. Avoid vending machines at all

Childress 6 costs because they are just sucking you in to eating an unhealthy snack. Maybe choose something a little healthier snack to pack for your child to eat while at school. Go with less simple and more complex. What does a simple carbohydrate and a complex carbohydrate really mean because you need to know what you are eating? The simple carbohydrates, commonly known as the bad carbohydrates, are refined and processed. Examples may be white bread, candy, and crackers (Shulman 34). When packing a sandwich for your childs lunch, you may want to consider using Pepperidge Farms 100% Whole Grain bread. Whole grain as well as fruits and vegetables are considered to be a complex carbohydrates, or good carbohydrates. Blood sugar levels are not altered by complex carbohydrates whereas simple carbohydrates may raise blood sugar rapidly (34). Keep good carbohydrates in your house for easy access but be cautious when selecting your fruits and vegetables.

Eat organic fruits and vegetables. Having your child eat their fruits and vegetables is a common choice for mothers.

You want your child to get the best nutrients that they possibly can. So you drive to your local grocery school, head over to the produce aisle, and pick up a bag of apples, a bag of oranges, and some small carrots. What you may not know when picking those out is that majority of the produce brought to grocery stores is covered in pesticides. The pesticides are mainly found in the soil. Linda Schmidt, author of Natural or Organic Foods, addresses that pesticides have been found to be neurotoxic which causes damage to the neurotransmitter inhibiting it to function properly (33). However, organic fruits and vegetables contain no trace of pesticides

Childress 7 present in them. Organic produce will be a healthy fit for your child and also for the environment. I understand that organic foods can be expensive but wouldnt you rather spend a little extra money for your child to remain in good health? So next time your looking for a snack, grab an organic nectarine or peach for your child to snack on. EAT RIGHT AND STAY CALM Dont you dare go through the drive-thru. You want to grab something quick for lunch, so you merely want to pick up a simple meal from McDonalds for your child. However, what you dont know about that Happy Meal is the real nutritional facts. You choose the four piece chicken nuggets, small fry, and a twelve-ounce Coca-Cola. If you look through the McDonalds Nutritional Facts, the Happy Meal combined has a total of 530 calories however 200 of those calories are strictly from fat. Remember when I mentioned above about bad carbohydrates, well this Happy Meal is filled with them. The chicken nuggets have twelve grams and the fries and coke have twenty-nine grams. Those refined sugars are going to do nothing for your ADHD child except have them bouncing off the walls. You may want to rethink driving through the McDonalds drive-thru and explore the exciting possibilities of a lunch packed from home. Brown bag it. Not many students bring their lunches to school because they rely on the school to provide a healthy meal for them but they are completely wrong. School lunches are loaded with trans fat that are completely unhealthy for any student especially an ADHD child. So therefore packing a brown bag lunch would be perfect for your

Childress 8 child. Remember though when packing their lunch to include a variety of foods that are going to satisfy their deficiencies because that will make them the most efficient throughout the day. Start with a whole-wheat turkey or ham sandwich that is going to provide the iron from the deli meat and a ton of magnesium from the whole-wheat bred that they need. Then pack an organic apple, pear, or any kind of fruit that is going to provide the zinc to help them concentrate in school. For a light snack, you may also want to put some walnuts and peanuts into their lunch bag to help increase the omega-3 fatty acids deficiencies. To top it off, put a green tea in their bag to keep them relaxed throughout the day. As long as you include their dietary deficiencies into every meal, you can get as creative with it as you possibility want. Go to the Farmers Market. You want to provide your child with the best meals possible but you dont need to count on your local grocery store for the healthiest meats and produce. Instead, travel to that unfamiliar place called the Farmers Market. Farmers grow their produce and raise their cattle and bring it directly to the Farmers Market for sell to you and your family. You dont have to rely on the companies to buy the cattle or produce from the farmers and send it through all of their processes before you finally get it. These products are coming straight from the farmers and the farmers are there in the market to answer any specific questions you may have about their products. Its a great way to get to know your local farmers and buy quality food for your child. Drinking smart, snacking healthy, and eating right are three important aspects that should be incorporated into your childs lifestyle. With the advice I have provided above should be more than enough for you to see a complete change in your ADHD childs life

Childress 9 if followed. These steps shouldnt be a hassle but a fun new adventure to embark on with your child to tackle their symptoms. Eating healthy foods doesnt have to always be a bore with leafy greens and water but an exciting new look on the foods they are eating. They will feel like a new person when they notice that their grades have gone up to what theyve always wanted them to be and you will see an improved in their daily life at home. You will be seeing a whole new child.