The mom blogs are furiously linking to two topics this morning. One is this viral video of twin boys talking to each other. Well, there aren't really talking. They are cracking themselves up by mimicking their parents and each other. As a parent of kid with language delays, I find this video fascinating. It shows a basic pre-language stage of joint attention and mimicry. In order to talk, we have to have the ability to copy and the interest in caring what others think.
The other topic du jour is about a report by the FDA that food coloring may cause behavior problems. Parents have long suspected that Fruit Loops and Kool Aid made their kids crazy. Now the FDA may start paying attention. They are setting up a panel to investigate. "Artificial dyes were developed — just as aspirin was — from coal tar, but are now made from petroleum products." Ack!
Steve has to stop taking the kids to 7/11 to get those Slurpies.
Apt. 11d 
I love those babies! It is fascinating to watch language developing! I am now in the stage where I get to watch literacy skills developing. It’s so amazing!
I hate red dye and noticed a difference when we gave J fruit punch years ago. The kids are not allowed to have it, and we try and avoid things that have psychedelic coloring. It’s really hard to avoid, though. It means buying organic and paying more.
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In order to talk, we have to have the ability to copy and the interest in caring what others think.
The fortunate thing is that you’d don’t have to care about what every one you talk to thinks. As long as at some point in your youth you cared, you’ll learn a skill that you can adapt for the purpose of getting people to leave your office as quickly as possible.
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At some point, we learn how to mimic caring about what other people think. We can smile and nod and the whole time we’re really thinking about what’s for dinner.
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At some point, we learn how to mimic caring about what other people think.
Until then, our campaign manager insists that we stick with the exact words of the text.
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I keep saying to my husband every time these baby videos are show on the Today Show. “it was cute when my kid did it but really, this is news?” How much more of this crap do I have to watch? And is it just that they video recorded it that makes it relevant?
I have been there, done that. My girls did that. ALL. THE. TIME. It is nothing new. It is what twins do. Which, my little twin was an on target talker…big twins delayed 6 months. So, really, listening, at 7:20am to kids scream at each other is annoying.
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Just went ballistic on someone on FB who linked to a food additives article. Someone who doesn’t have kids, let alone kids with ADHD. I calmed down and deleted my comment, but it still makes me mad.
Tons of people are going to skim this article and say food coloring causes ADHD. Another article on the same topic said “Parents may soon be able to stop medicating their children and change diet instead.” Ugh.
There have been exhaustive studies on this, and there is no real evidence that there is any link. Most parents I know have done exhaustive research as well as tried X, Y and Z to deal with their kids behavioral issues before turning to medication. There is a huge stigma to medicating your kid. I feel like this is going further that stigma and once again parents will have to to defend their decisions. Don’t give your kid artificial colors if you think it makes them worse, but don’t deprive them of medication if it helps make their lives better.
I can remember the post that Flea wrote years ago about ADHD where a grown man in the comments section talked about how meds had changed his life. He despaired that he had floundered all through school because his parents didn’t think it was right to medicate. It was heartbreaking.
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One child is a migraineur. At certain times of the month, she avoids certain foods, especially foods with sulfites and caffeine. Most people eat deli meats and drink coffee without problems. For her, those foods could trigger a migraine.
Another child has food allergies. He must always avoid certain foods, as they could trigger an anaphylactic reaction.
As the mother of children who are sensitive to certain ingredients in foods, I do believe that some foods can cause problems for some people. I’ve been reading food labels for years, trying to avoid triggers for my children’s known conditions. Many commercially produced foods include preservatives and colorings.
It will be interesting to see what the panel concludes. I find it fascinating that the panel is even convening, as all the food companies have lobbyists.
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Impressive how long they keep it going. There’s interesting data (hopefully) coming out about language development, some of it based on the availability of much more extensive real time recordings of children’s behavior. In the old days, this stuff had to be done with surveys (ask parents what kind of babbling their kids did). Now, you can record it, or ask them to record it.
There’s an MIT prof who wired his house for sound so that he could record every word his kid said as they were learning how to talk. It’s a pretty cool gee whiz study, though I haven’t seen whether anything substantive has come of it yet. He has a ted talk, though, for those who enjoy that kind of thing.
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I’m usually very skeptical about these kinds of studies, because it’s so hard to isolate the effects of certain substances on something as complex as child behavior.
However, this is one case where I just don’t get the utility of the food additive. It’s not a preservative (which I think there are arguments for even if some kids have reactions) or a protein (like peanuts) or even something that influences taste (like fat, sugar, and salt).
My take home lesson was that I’m going to consider buying more of my food at Whole Foods.
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One child is a migraineur. At certain times of the month, she avoids certain foods, especially foods with sulfites and caffeine. Most people eat deli meats and drink coffee without problems. For her, those foods could trigger a migraine.
I’m not the only one with food-triggered migraines! Only for me, replace sulfites with certain kinds of simple sugars. (The caffeine one decreased over time, fortunately.)
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I think I might have a problem with sulfites. I got a bad headache from drinking wine and I noticed that “Contains Sulfites” was written on the labels of all three bottles.
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Lisa V, I think the comparison to migraines is helpful. Our daughter also needs medication to stop her migraines, once they start. Lifestyle changes alone don’t do the trick.
I also get annoyed when people imply that teenaged girls are imagining pain. There’s no way to know how someone else perceives pain, or noise, or how smooth a fabric might be. I know she has a high tolerance for pain, because I’ve seen how she’s handled things which hurt, such as a broken bone. I don’t think people assume teen boys are exaggerate pain.
Sensitivities to food dyes could explain part of the increase in ADD, if only for the few people who are sensitive to them. Due to food allergies, we cook at home more than the average household. Many foods in the normal American diet are now produced in factories or centralized kitchens. If you’re accustomed to food with food dyes, home made food will look “off.” It won’t be as bright.
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I don’t think there has been a dramatic increase. I think it finally has a name. When we first started researching ADD, I could go back 3 generations and see heavy, heavy symptoms. I think people with ADD are lacking basic chemicals in the brain that allow most people to focus, and be less impulsive. That chemical can’t be made up through diet.
Do I think a crummy diet could make it harder to deal with the symptoms? Probably. But I don’t think it’s the cause.
I think there are positives and negatives to chosing to treat ADD with medication (just like chosing to treat depression, or any other condition with medication). Some people may decide the side effects don’t outweigh the benefits for themselves or their children. I get that. But I think it’s wrong to assume that diet can “cure” ADD.
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MH — I have the same problem!
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Naw I dont think the link to coloring is the issue. It is that most foods that use coloring are likely to contain high amounts of sugar like frosting and so on.
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