Do you think your child is hyperactive? I’m a nutritionist and here are the surprising foods that will help manage behaviour

Joe Wicks sparked controversy last year after claiming ultraprocessed food could trigger ADHD, and that his childhood hyperactivity was triggered by ‘Wagon Wheels and jam sandwiches’.

At the time his comments were slammed by leading ADHD experts and charities as ‘misleading,’ ‘wrong,’ and even ‘damaging’.

But last month, Wicks, 39, who rose to prominence with his ‘PE With Joe’ workout videos during Covid lockdowns, clarified his position, arguing he was merely highlighting that certain foods and poor diets can affect children’s behaviour.

In a separate Instagram video last year he also said: ‘I do believe that food has a massive impact whether you have ADHD or not. It really impacts our mood and our ability to sit still and focus, even our energy and our mental health.’

Experts have claimed there is no evidence that any particular diet can cause ADHD symptoms to develop.

Others, however, have suggested there may be a link between the food we consume and hyperactivity.

So what is the truth? According to public health nutritionist and author of ‘Nutrition for ADHD and Dyslexia’, Dr Emma Derbyshire, there really are surprising foods that can impact behaviour.

Here, she tells MailOnline of the diet tweaks she recommends to boost feelings of calm in hyperactive children.

According to public health nutritionist and author of ‘Nutrition for ADHD and Dyslexia’, Dr Emma Derbyshire, there really are surprising foods that can impact behaviour

Joe Wicks sparked controversy last year after claiming ultraprocessed food could trigger ADHD and his hyperactivity as a child was down to ‘Wagon Wheels and jam sandwiches’

Learn to love lentils

‘Nutrition cannot cause nor is a cure for ADHD. But there is an important place for it alongside educational and medical interventions,’ Dr Derbyshire said.

‘There are ways that diet can help to level out blood sugar levels. It is thought that reducing these surges could help to prevent hyperactivity.’

Eating foods higher in sugar are believed to cause quicker spikes in blood sugar levels. Research has long linked blood sugar levels to energy levels.

Ensuring meals have a key source of protein is one way of helping ‘prevent spikes’, she added.

This could include adding slices of egg to a lunchbox, fish to salads or on top of crackers or green lentils into a sauce.

‘Low-sugar beans onto a jacket potato, or slices of lean meat and poultry with lunch or an evening meals can help to increase feelings of fullness and level out blood sugar levels.

According to the NHS, some research has also suggested that oily fish such as mackerel, salmon and sardines — all high in omega-3 fatty acids — ‘can help reduce behavioural problems and promote brain function’.

Dr Derbyshire added: ‘We know that omega-3 fatty acids are potentially useful for those with hyperactivity.

‘It has been found that children and teens with ADHD tend to have lower blood levels of docosahexaenoic acid and rebalancing this may potentially help with attention.’

Fascinating graphs show how ADHD prescriptions have risen over time, with the patient demographic shifting from children to adults with women in particular now driving the increase

Switch to wholegrain

‘Complex carbohydrates — those that tend to be higher in fibre — can also help to level out blood sugar levels,’ Dr Derbyshire said.

‘They can also fill you up for longer, helping to prevent snacking on higher sugar foods.’

This is because complex carbohydrates break down slowly in children’s guts and release energy slowly.

Fruit and vegetables — with the skins on where possible, jacket potatoes, wholegrain bread, pasta and rice are all great examples of complex carbs, she added.

By contrast simple carbohydrates, such as white bread and pasta, are broken down far more quickly which may affect attention span and behaviour.

‘For children exhibiting hyperactivity, it is worth logging in a diary or on a mobile what they are eating over the course of the day for a few days,’ she added.

‘How many snacks are they having? Are these refined/highly processed? How many soft drinks are they having? Ideally the number of sugary snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages should be limited.’

‘Brightly coloured energy drinks grab the attention and appeal of children. But while they may look great from the outside what they can to on the inside is not so peachy,’ Dr Derbyshire said

Ditch the energy drinks

With some brands available for as little as 25p a can, many energy boosting drinks can be cheaper than bottled water and are a popular pick-me-up among young people.

There are no legal restrictions on the sale of energy drinks to under-16s in the UK. However, many retailers have voluntarily stopped selling energy drinks to this age group.

‘Brightly coloured energy drinks grab the attention and appeal of children.

‘But while they may look great from the outside what they can to on the inside is not so peachy,’ Dr Derbyshire said.

Common ingredients found in the cans include stimulants such as caffeine, as well as herbal extracts like guarana, taurine, ginseng and carnitine to boost energy.

But they also contain ‘shockingly high amounts of added sugars’, she added.

One US study published in 2015 involving more than 1,000 middle school students found that those who guzzled energy drinks were 66 per cent more likely to be hyperactive.

Writing in the journal Academic Pediatrics, researchers also found the risk of hyperactivity rose 14 per cent for each drink consumed.

Energy drinks have sky-high levels of ingredients that have powerful effects on the body. Some brands can have up to 160mg of caffeine, almost triple that of an instant coffee, nearly 10-times the level of taurine, an amino acid commonly found in meat, fish and eggs, as a salmon fillet and the same amount of sugar as a full fat Coke

Drinks such as Red Bull, Prime and Monster can have up to 150mg of caffeine. For comparison, a 250ml cup of coffee has around 90mg

‘Some ultraprocessed foods such as lower-sugar fortified cereals have their place in diets,’ Dr Derbyshire said

Processed snack food isn’t all bad

Research has long suggested that excessive sugar consumption does not have benefits to young minds.

Writing for The Conversation recently, Amy Reichelt, a nutritional neuroscientist and senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide, also said: ‘Neuroimaging studies show the brains of children who eat more processed snack foods are smaller in volume, particularly in the frontal cortices, than those of children who eat a more healthful diet.’

But Dr Derbyshire cautioned that indulging in some processed foods won’t harm children.

‘Some ultraprocessed foods such as lower-sugar fortified cereals have their place in diets,’ she said.

‘It’s more important to monitor the food colours and levels of added sugars.

‘Some research has found possible links between certain food colours and hyperactivity in children and young people.’

According to the UK’s Food Standards Agency, six food colours have been closely linked to hyperactivity in children.

These include E102 or tartrazine, E104 or quinoline yellow and E110 — sunset yellow.

E122 or carmosine, E124 — also called ponceau — and E129 or allura red, are among the others.

‘Sometimes the font on food labels can be small so you made need to look on food product websites to see if any of these are listed,’ Dr Derbyshire said.

‘This needn’t be for every food, just those that have that seem extra bright in an unnatural way.

‘If foods contain any of these the labels should declare “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children”.’