No! Despite clinical research results to the contrary many parents and even some doctors believe that sugar intake is linked to hyperactivity or mood swings in children. A long time ago special diets (Feingold) were used to reduce symptoms of these children. Other parents postulated that phosphate or food additives caused adhd-like-symptoms. They might have some effect for a very short time but cannot influence the outcome of adhd. Actually, they are very hard to handle and might even cause additional psychological problems because your child will not like them at all.

There might be a small subgroup of adhd-children with a special sensitivity for some food. Trials of sugar restriction or diets should be restricted to 3 or 4 weeks. A subgroup of children (1-3 %) might show limited benefit, so it could be worth a trial. But diets and restrictive eating patterns are a main cause for the development of eating disorders. Since we have no scientific basis for such an attempt, it is better to use a multimodal treatment approach.

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