“Oh no, you gave little Johnny the red cordial?!”

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is an issue that sometimes comes up in litigation between parents, either both or one of whom is exhausted in having one (or a number)of ADHD kids.

One of the issues that can come up is when one of the parents (the one spending most of the time with the children) says that the children have ADHD, and the doctor has given the diagnosis, but the other parents says that the child is fine.

The dispute can get down to the level of what food the child is having.

There is nothing quite like a parent realising that they gave their child some lollies or cordial with food colouring, resulting in their child being hyperactive for up to a few hours after.

This belief has recently been backed up by Australian researcher Professor Andrew Kemp, published in the British Medical Journal. A test of 297 non ADHD kids discovered what most parents know- give the kids lollies and kids without ADHD can become hyperactive.

As a result of his research, Professor Kemp has called for parents who have ADHD kids to make sure their kids have a healthy diet without the preservative sodium benzoate and without the food colouring present in lollies, as these dietary changes might help in reduction of ADHD.