Fewer Fruit and Veggies, More Inattention in Children with ADHD

A higher intake of fruits and vegetables was inversely associated with inattention in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study published in Nutritional Neuroscience.

“These findings are important because they suggest that dietary intake is associated with symptoms of inattention in children with ADHD and emotional dysregulation: those eating less fruits and vegetables were likely to have more severe inattention,” wrote corresponding author Irene E. Hatsu, PhD, of the Ohio State University Department of Human Sciences in Columbus, Ohio, and coauthors.

The study included 134 children with ADHD and emotional dysregulation between the ages of 6 and 12 from sites in Columbus, Ohio; Portland, Oregon; and Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. All were participants in the Micronutrients for ADHD in Youth (MADDY) randomized controlled trial, a study that investigated multinutrient supplementation. At baseline, parents completed a detailed questionnaire about foods the children ate, including portion sizes, over a 90-day period. On another questionnaire, parents rated their inattention symptoms. This study used baseline data from the MADDY trial to examine links between diet quality, assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI), and symptoms of ADHD and emotional dysregulation.

According to the analysis, overall diet quality as gauged by HEI total score was not associated with inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, or emotional dysregulation.

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When researchers looked at HEI component scores, however, they found vegetable and fruit scores were inversely associated with severity of inattention, even after adjusting for covariates.

“The vegetable and fruit intake associations are consistent with previous findings that showed lower frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with higher prevalence of ADHD diagnosis,” researchers wrote. “Our study adds to this finding by linking lower fruit and vegetable intake specifically to increased severity of inattention.”

References

Robinette LM, Hatsu IE, Johnstone JM, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake is inversely associated with severity of inattention in a pediatric population with ADHD symptoms: the MADDY Study. Nutr Neurosci. Published online May 10, 2022. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2022.2071805

Diet plays key role in ADHD symptoms in children. News release. Ohio State University; May 19, 2022. Accessed July 8, 2022.