Can Dietary Intervention Be Applied in the Treatment of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder - Research Paper Example

Introduction Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disorder mostly experienced in children. It forms part of the countless children behavioral disorders that sometimes may pass unnoticed to a parent. However, this disorder can be easily identified due to the frequency with which the child raises complaints that point to its direction. A child with this disorder exhibits inattentiveness, impulsivity and hyperactivity. Other than these characteristics, the children with ADHD tend to frequently experience health complications and problems such as anxiety and depression. They also have recurrent physical complications. For instance, children suffering from this disorder frequently have diarrhea, headache and eczema. This disorder is more pronounced in the sleeping behaviors of the children. They are sleepier during the day and show signs of activity when asleep through uncontrolled movements. Etiologic efforts have so far not brought forth a comprehensive description of the causes of this disorder, but it is believed to be resultant of environmental and genetic factors (Pelsser et al 2010 n.p). Identification/explanation of gap in knowledge/research question Past research and studies illustrated that dietary intervention has significant impact on those suffering from this disorder. Built on reviews of these researches, this research seeks to further investigate on the implications of diet on the behaviors of children. It is based on the need to establish the effects an elimination diet will have on the physical and sleeping experiences of children with this disorder. Review of Introduction ADHD has been on the rise among children irrespective of the extensive research conducted on it. It is a disorder that has evoked desire to investigate in many researchers some of whom have yielded positive results. The effects of this disorder have been discovered to extend to as far adolescence. Children who have this disorder have exhibited significant impairment even after being subjected to treatment at earlier stages (Cortese et al 2006:504-11). The best approach to this problem has been a combination of pharmacotherapy and behavioral management. To combat the sleeping complications, use of psycho stimulants have been employed on children with minimal resolve. The stimulants show a limited time of action from which the child reverts to the state they were meant to alleviate him from (Patricia, Kathy & Carol 1999:114). For this reason, there arises the need to find out more about options feasible in the treatment of ADHD and the impacts they have on the children’s co morbid complaints. The incomprehensive nature of this disorder only implies that sufficient and conclusive research has not been conducted. However, past research has shown that elimination diet administered to children with ADHD impacts positively on the behaviors and complications that are characteristic of the disorder. The children on the diet illustrated improved sleeping behaviors as well reduced cases of physical co morbid complications such headaches and diarrhea. This research will be conducted be conducted with an aim of evaluating elimination diet as an option for ADHD treatment. Nutrition is a pertinent aspect of the behavioral definition of a child. It is a research built on the foundation that there exists a relationship between the children’s behavior and the feeding habits they practice. In this research, a sample of children with ADHD will be subjected to an elimination diet program and their response recorded. From the results obtained, various methods of dealing with disorder can be established and implemented along others that have shown progressive positive change in those with ADHD. Description of Methods One of the most important parts of research is choice of the sample to be studied. The sample requires being the assumed representation of the population of which variables the study is meant to investigate. In this study, subjects of the sample and the sample size are issues that required utmost consideration with regard to the definition and the frequency ADHD is experienced in children. An attribute that was used as a guideline in the selection of the sample is age. It is clear that this disorder extends into adulthood, but the autonomous nature of the adults impedes on the possibility of them being part of such a research. The study was therefore limited to children between the age of 3 and 8 years. The sample comprised a set of 24 boys and girls diagnosed with ADHD. All these were critically analyzed prior to the start of the study to ensure that they meet all the set prerequisites of the study sample. They met the criteria set for ADHD in the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”. They were also required to have exhibited symptoms of the disorder before their fourth birthday and be naïve to medication. Those that were excluded fell short of these requirements or had been diagnosed with a disorder of the autism spectrum. Children whose mothers smoked while pregnant or had abnormalities at birth were also excluded. The children were then randomly grouped into two to allow for comparison. 13 were put in the diet group and 11 in the control group. The severity of the disorder was equal in both groups at start of the study. All children were put on a baseline diet for a period of two weeks during which the parents carefully recorded their behaviors.This period is meant to establish the frequency of complaints from the children under their normal diet. The results obtained in this period are the ones to be compared to those at end of the elimination diet. The diet group is monitored for 5 weeks during they are fed with selected foods. The elimination diet was administered in accordance with the “Hill and Taylor’s basic algorithm for treatment of ADHD” (Hill and Taylor 2001:404-9). This enabled easier designing of the diet for every child. Parents to the children in both groups were to conscientiously monitor the behaviors of their children as well as record the physical and sleep complaints they raised. Outcome Measurements Outcomes from both groups were compared to show the efficacy of the elimination diet on the resolution of the physical and sleep problems in the children with ADHD. In this randomized controlled trial, the outcomes from the diet and the controlled groups before and after the administration of the diet were compared. For easy and congruent collect of this information, the parents were to fill questionnaires at end of the assessment to give a summary of the behavioral changes that occurred in their children during the time of study. The questionnaires were structured to capture frequency of occurrence of a physical or sleep complaint, the most frequent of seven complaints namely pain such as headaches, unusual perspiration or thirst, eczema, asthma or persistent cold, skin problems, gastrointestinal problems and tiredness. The graph below represents the results obtained from this study and demonstrates the impacts of the elimination diet on the behaviors and children with ADHD. Description and Explanation of Results The study provides results that give a definite direction along the objectives stipulated at the start of the study. It was designed to establish the relationship between diet and behaviors as well as compound or dispute the claim that dietary intervention can be applied in the treatment of ADHD. From the figures plotted above, there is significant change in the number complaints arising from every aspect of problems associated with ADHD. For instance, the percentage of sleep complaints dropped from 40% to less than 10% in the group under elimination diet compared to control group which had no change at all. The reduction in these complaints indicate that if the right diet is given to children with ADHD there can be great improvement or even total cure of the disorder. Even with the positive results, there are factors that may be considered as limitations of the study. The inflexibility in the diet used means that it was difficult to develop a placebo diet for the control group. Therefore more research should be conducted under more comprehensive conditions to ensure accurate and reliable results on which to peg decisions made on treatment of ADHD. Bibliography Cortese S., Konofal E., Yateman N., Mouren M.C. and Lecendreux M. (2006). Sleep and alertness in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review of the literature. Medline Journal, vol. 4 p.p 504-11.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16676784 Hill P. & Taylor E (2001). An auditable protocol for treating attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1718747/pdf/v084p00404.pdf Patricia Q. S., Kathy K. H. & Carol E. L (1999). Handbook of Pediatric Nutrition. Jones &Barlett Learning. Pelsser L., Frankena K.,Buitelaar J and Rommelse N (2010). “Effects of food on physical and sleep complaints in children with ADHD: a randomized controlled pilot study.” Springer journal, vol.10, pp. 1129-1138, PubMed Central. Read More