Joe Wicks says junk food causes ADHD

@ListToHunt ADHD is terribly misunderstood, and many people diagnosed with it aren’t those whose brain is “wired from birth” - hence my statement that the medical profession doesn’t know much about it. This is a widely-researched phenomenon: search “ADHD Misdiagnosis” and you will find many studies showing that other conditions can be mistaken for ADHD.
I’m sure that in the future, more research will reveal much more information about ADHD, but for those people currently caught in the “ADHD catch-all” spectrum, cutting down on UPF’s may well improve their health generally, as well as their symptoms specifically.

Any time that someone tries to point out that the poor diet that numerous children are being subjected to, are doing them absolutely no favours, look at the abuse that they get. All the name calling is disgusting. Jamie Oliver is a case in point. How people could have been criticising him for trying to improve children's diets was astounding.

I am trying a different eating pattern at the moment, having healthy oils at every meal. I’ve been told it may help alleviate my fatigue.

I find it odd people assume diet has no impact on behaviour.

DS1 got absolutely vile for a while, and we suddenly realised it was caused by cetirizine. Switch to loratidine and he was a different child.

Maybe some people are really sensitive to the fluctuations of chemicals, as a symptom of an underlying condition like ASD or ADHD? I mean, we know sensory difficulties are part of it, don’t we?

I need a routine like a baby to be healthy- not overstimulated, regular sleep and food… boring as hell but better than pain!

Also what's wrong with Jamie Oliver?
Nothing, as far as I am concerned, other than he seems to have lots of children with rather twee names. I have no time for him because I'm not particularly interested in trying new recipes.

Why? For saying that ADHD symptoms could be made worse by a poor diet?

Why is it okay acknowledge that poor diet worsens our physical health but not our mental health, I wonder?

Agreed!

Also what's wrong with Jamie Oliver? Were you one of the parents feeding your kid chips through the school fence because vegetables are an abuse of their rights?

GPs don't diagnose ADHD. (In my area, they aren't even permitted to make referrals for children with suspected ADHD.)

Nutritionists don't diagnose ADHD.

HTH.

I think a lot of it is due to excessive screen time. Doubtless there is a population with ADHD whose symptoms are much worse due to modern lifestyles. A combination of screens, not enough exercise, poor diets, inadequate parenting, will combine to worsen things. It doesn't mean ADHD is caused by any of these things, but these things will worsen the manifestations.

I have no time for Joe Wicks (or Jamie Oliver) but I am disgusted by the terms used on this thread and the way what he said has been misinterpreted.

How about saying symptoms can be worsened by a poor diet?

I don't think he's saying it is the only cause is he?

I think its probably quite logical for there to be an effect of ingesting harmful chemicals on the brain, especially in vast quantities.

This is false. The first recorded mention of ADHD symptoms in medical literature was in... 1775.

British paediatricians were recognising the symptoms of ADHD and lecturing about them in the early 1900s.

What has improved in recent years is the field of ADHD study in general. We know a lot more about the causes (genes rather than chocolate bars) and effective treatment options.

To say that personal choices, e.g. food, cause ADHD is utterly stupid. The ADHD brain is wired differently from birth.

He doesn't say it causes ADHD, though.

It's well known that a bad diet impacts your physical and mental health - so it follows that a bad diet could make various symptoms worse.

That doesn't mean junk food causes ADHD, just that ADHD won't be helped by a bad diet.

It's like saying exercise cures depression - it doesn't, of course, but it does help with the symptoms.

Did you read the article?

He claimed that a reliance on junk food can lead to lack of energy and a struggle to focus in young people.

True.

”And then we're taught this is what kids eat, kids need these snacks in their lunchbox, this is what they have for dinner. […] So, we're kind of being confused and led down this path that adults have adult food and kids have kids menus and kids food.

And that's the issue we've got because people are cooking less than ever and relying on these processed foods and it's a shame because kids are getting their energy sucked out of them.

”They're struggling at school with focus, they're gaining weight, and probably having really low energy crashes because these foods are just not going to give your children the energy they need to sustain a healthy day — a balanced level of energy.”

All of that is also true. He’s not claiming ADHD doesn’t exist or that it’s caused by junk food. He’s saying his own behaviour when young was caused or exacerbated by a poor diet and I think suggests he’d have diagnosed with ND if he was young now.

Obviously what you know about ADHD is miniscule. I think the medical profession might not appreciate your personal beliefs.

This! He reminds me very much of Jamie Oliver

DS1 is the same and if he has had a diet coke with it it's unstoppable 😂

He is such a prick.

Couple of studies here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9608000/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9322602/

https://bnrc.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s42269-020-00466-x

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-01684-7

Junk food can definitely exacerbate symptoms, not sure that they cause it though.

Joe Wicks today claimed ultraprocessed junk food may be behind the explosion in child ADHD diagnoses

That's not the same as saying 'junk food causes ADHD' though op.

I think he has very good points. In short, that feeding your kid a shit diet can severely impact behaviour which leads to them being misdiagnosed with ADHD.

The fact is what we actually know about adhd is minuscule and the actual experts agree on this. I read a quote recently that said our understanding of adhd is akin to when we were still using leeches to heal physical problems.

There are many people working in the field who believe junk food is a compounding factor, others who believe childhood trauma is, there's a doctor having apparent success treating adhd with only social prescriptions and others attempting to treat it with digital detoxes.

My own personal belief (just an opinion not a fact) is that we'll come to understand adhd as an umbrella term used to describe a group of behaviours with a range of different causes from dopamine deficit to early childhood trauma. However this is just my own opinion the point is we don't know yet.

He’s going for an OBE…

There are some warnings on food labels with certain E numbers that's say, may cause hyperactivity in children. So whilst it's might make the issue worse, unlikely that diet alone would cause it.