Reality: It's a myth that eating sugar makes children hyper. Sugar is often a part of exciting events that make children hyper, such as Halloween and birthday parties - this is sometimes called the "Halloween Effect."
- Studies have been done where parents are told that their child has been given sugar - these parents rated their child's behaviour as hyperactive. The parents that were told their children had no sugar, rated their children as calm. In reality, the "hyper" children had been given no sugar, and the "calm" children had been given lots of sugar.
- Studies show that eating sugar has no effect on symptoms of children with ADHD - not that we are recommending adding sugar to a child's diet!