Western fast-food diet could be major cause of ADHD

Western fast-food diet could be major cause of ADHD

Attention deficient disorder (ADHD) is a growing problem, afflicting around 5 per cent of children. Now researchers say they have pinpointed one of its main causes. Adolescents who eat a Western diet of fast food - processed, fried and refined meals – are twice as likely to suffer from ADHD as those who mainly eat healthier fare. A processed, fast food diet is very low in fatty acids, and high in total fat, saturated fat, refined sugar and sodium. Omega-3 fatty acids, folate and fibre - which can be found in fish, whole grains, fruits and vegetables – help develop mental health, and aid optimal brain function. Researchers at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Australia studied the diets of around 1800 adolescents aged up to 14 years. Of these, 115 had been diagnosed with ADHD. Prof Wendy Oddy, who headed up the research, said that the fastfood diet also wasn’t providing enough micronutrients that can aid attention and concentration.

Source: Journal of Attention Disorders, 2010; doi: 10.1177/1087054710365990

Lift Kids Out of Poverty, Protect Their Brains

Growing up in poverty can physically harm a child's brain development, suggests a new study co-conducted by a University of British Columbia researcher.

Add that to a growing stack of findings that child advocates are using to argue the B.C. government needs to do more to tackle child poverty in a province that trails the rest of Canada in that category.

UBC pediatrician Tom Boyce worked with colleagues at the University of California and Stanford to measure how differences in a child's family socioeconomic status determine differences in neurological functioning in the pre-frontal cortex -- the part of the brain associated with executive functions and reasoning.

Their resulting study, to be published in MIT's Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, found that poorer children's pre-frontal cortexes were more likely to exhibit signs of damage or "altered" functioning identified with shortened attention spans and other learning problems.

Child and youth advocates say the new research is consistent with other studies finding that poverty sickens kids and impairs their development.

A study recently released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information reveals that low income Canadians are at elevated risk for mental health hospitalization, diabetes and childhood asthma.

Article here.

Stop the MOTHERS Act - Medicating the Unborn

Illustration of Paxil birth defect.

Read the Bill here

Despite reports that antidepressants - SSRI drugs - have no more therapeutic worth than placebos, Big Pharma is
aggressively promoting a new law in Congress. The MOTHERS law would attempt to prevent postpartum depression by drugging women with antidepressants while they're pregnant. SSRI drugs have never been approved for use on newborns, yet this Act will drug the unborn and newborns with antidepressants. What effect will this have on their brains? Will they grow up to be school shooters, prone to violent thoughts and behavior? Will they kill themselves in childhood? And what will the effect of loss of freedom and these medications be on the mother?