Micronutrients effective in treating hyperactive children: New Zealand study

A diet of vitamins and minerals has proved effective in calming severely hyperactive children, according to a New Zealand study out Thursday.

University of Canterbury psychology researcher Dr Heather Gordon treated 14 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with micronutrients instead of medication.

The children were treated with 36-ingredient vitamins and minerals for eight weeks and then taken off them for four weeks, with the on-off cycle repeating over a six-month period.

The results were so effective some parents were reluctant to take their children off the micronutrients for the full four weeks, Gordon said in a statement.

"When they came off the micronutrients, some children's symptoms returned within days, which was a good indication of their effectiveness," she said.

More than three quarters of the children were identified as "much improved" or "very much improved" at the end of the trial.

"There were also some improvements in mood, anxiety, irritability and other presenting psychiatric symptoms, which you don't often get with medications," Gordon said.

Treatment with micronutrients improved levels of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity and benefits were sustained throughout the day, although they were slower to work than medications, Professor Julia Rucklidge said in the statement.

"Medications such as Ritalin affect children's ability to sleep, so many parents do not medicate in the evenings, which sees a re-emergence of symptoms at night, whereas with the children in the micronutrients study didn't have this problem," Rucklidge said.

A larger 20-week trial on children aged 7 to 12 years as planned, with some taking a placebo, to test the efficacy of the treatment. Endit