The paper presents a summary of the findings from a 1982 conference held by the National Institutes of Health on the issue of diets and hyperactivity. Six questions are addressed, touching on the nature of hyperactivity and its quantifiable measurement, defined diets, empirical evidence regarding the effects of these diets on hyperactivity,…

Interviewed were 115 parents of children receiving medication for hyperactivity, convulsive disorders, or other reasons. Parents received a Children's Medication Chart (CMC) which contained life size pictures of 69 different products to aid parents in identifying medication. The telephone interview covered such aspects as frequency of…

Treatment strategies for modifying peer relations of hyperactive children are described within the context of recent research on the components of social status in children. This information, though not as yet specifically identified for hyperactive children, is presented as offering the best chance of establishing maximally effective treatment…

Thirteen hyperactive and 13 control preschoolers participated in an examination of language and activity during listening tasks. Ss were administered three forms of the referential communication task. Their activity was recorded by a motion recorder strapped to the Ss' nondominant wrist and by observation. Transcriptions of the Ss' verbalizations…

While hyperactivity in children has been alternately viewed as a form of minimal brain dysfunction, as a behavior disorder, or as an attention deficit disorder, recent findings on hyperactive adolescents and adults suggest that hyperactivity can be better understood as a personality disorder. Striking similarities appear when characteristics of…

The effect of the Feingold diet (elimination of artificial colors, flavors, or foods with natural salicylates to reduce hyperactivity) on the reading achievement scores, behavior, and impulsivity/reflectivity of 13 children (ages 6 to 12 years) was evaluated. Six months after the experimental group adopted the Feingold diet there were no…

The National Advisory Committee on Hyperkinesis and Food Additives paper summarized some research findings on the issue of the relationship between food-additive-free diets and hyperkinesis in children. Based on several challenge studies, it is concluded that the evidence generally refutes Dr. B. F. Feingold's claim that artificial colorings in…

Seventy-six hyperactive children (5 to 9 years old) and their families were studied to assess adherence to stimulant medication. Twenty families rejected the offer of treatment. Of those accepting, 20% were no longer taking medication by the fourth month and 44 had ceased by the tenth month. Nonadherence was generally not due to dramatic symptom…

It is suggested that the so-called paradoxical calming or depressant effects of amphetamine on hyperactive children can be accounted for by the proposition that amphetamines increase arousal when the initial arousal level is low but decrease arousal when the initial level is high. (Author)

The relationship between the ingestion of artificial food colors and an increase in selected hyperactive behaviors in two hyperactive females (eight years old) was studied. (Author/BD)

The study investigated the involvement of school personnel in the administration of medication for the hyperactive child. (Author)

Seven teachers failed to differentiate accurately among 28 students who demonstrated high and low levels of actual motor activity. (CL)

The behavior of eight hyperactive children was compared to 16 controls (9-10 years old) in two different classroom settings: an informal setting which involved choice and variety of tasks; and a formal setting which involved teacher specification of a small number of tasks. (Author/CL)

Defines both hyperactivity and hyperkinesis, how students suffering from those conditions behave, and the use of drug therapy for reducing such behavior in classrooms. (RK)