Tantrums
Which
foods are most likely to cause tantrums?
It's normal for young children to have
occasional tantrums that last 10 or 11 minutes and all children are more likely
to display extreme behaviours if they're very tired, hungry or sick. Frequent,
extra-long or aggressive tantrums are not normal1.
1. Extremely
aggressive behavior during a tantrum such as
aggression directed at a caregiver or violently destructive behavior
toward an object such as a toy
2. Children who
intentionally injure themselves during tantrums - such as head-banging,
scratching until the skin bleeds or biting themselves
3. Frequent tantrums
- children who have more than five tantrums a day for several consecutive days
4. Extra long tantrums - e.g. more than 25 minutes per tantrum
5. Children who are unable to calm themselves
following a tantrum
While researchers warn that excessive tantrum
behaviour can be a symptom of mental health problems such as depression or disruptive
behavioural conditions1, we find that unusual tantrums can be a
symptom of food intolerance2,3,4. One
mother wrote that her son had been having two or three screaming tantrums per
day after switching to failsafe eating and she was able to observe that his
tantrums occurred 24 hours after eating preservatives. There are numerous
reports of tantrum improvements, see Reader stories
below.
Which foods are most likely to cause tantrums?
Research with 86 behaviourally disordered
children4 found that:
75% reacted
to salicylates (in fruit, mint, tomato etc flavoured
products and in most fruit, some vegetables)
60-70% reacted to preservatives
55% reacted
to artificial colour
40% reacted
to MSG, synthetic antioxidants such as E320, natural glutamates, and biogenic
amines
20% reacted
to dairy foods
3% reacted to sugar used as a placebo
0% reacted to gluten but this rises to 20% for
people with irritable bowel symptoms. (Children with food intolerance often get
better results with white flour than wholemeal.eg. white bread, rolled oats or
rice based cereals such as Rice Bubbles).
For more information see Introduction
to food intolerance
Reader’s
stories
From [930] One-liners (July 2010)
’Before the diet, I wouldn’t have said my
2 yo had tantrums because his behaviour
was more often than not terrible and constant - but I think I am seeing normal
tantrums now’. by
email, NSW
From
[637] One-liners (May 2008)
Preservatives seem to be responsible for my
son’s mega tantrums. Before I was aware of the impact of additives, he was having
two or three screaming tantrums per day. Now we are failsafe, I have noticed
his reactions are around 24 hours after eating preservatives - by email.
From
[474] One-liners (November 2006)
My two children have become angels on this
diet - my 2 year old has stopped her temper tantrums and is sleeping better and
my 5 yr old son is like a new boy, happily playing on
his own for hours, drawing, building blocks. He realises that "food with
colours and chemicals make me silly" - I can't believe he is actively
trying to avoid those foods because he feels so much better!
[888]
160b: Defiant, teary, mega tantrums after annatto (February 2010)
I have had great results with my daughter now
4 with a generally additive free, low chemical diet with improvements in
behaviour, going to sleep etc (used to have many
major tantrums, defiance, took 2 hours to go to sleep). 160b is a big culprit.
It makes my daughter extremely defiant, teary and she throws mega tantrums.
(It’s so hard to educate my mum - as 160b is in so many "healthy
foods" yoghurt, icecreams, etc).
– Tamsin, Vic
[448]
282: Identical twins react differently to bread preservative 282 (August 2006)
I am the mother of identical twin girls aged three
and a half. I have discovered that one of my twin girls reacts violently to the
preservative 282 in bread and since my girls were 18mths old have been
purchasing bread through Baker Delight with great success. Recently for the
first time in two years she was eating preservative bread on holiday and went
off her head. Screaming, tantrums, the whole nine yards so to
speak … – by email.
[364]
Uncontrollable rages – 9 year old would constantly try to hurt himself (March
2005)
My 9 year old son started on the failsafe
diet 3 months ago and his is teacher this year said it is like having a totally
different child in the class. Before the diet it was impossible to live
peacefully. He would have uncontrollable tantrums that would last hours where
he would scream, cry, kick, headbang etc and we didn't know what would set him off. When he was
going through these rages he would constantly try to hurt himself and kept
screaming at me that he was no good, he was a bad boy and I'd be better off
with another little boy - it broke my heart every time it happened. I think the
longest both of us went without any sleep because of a 'rage' was three days.
The crunch came when he went off at school
after lunch one day and it took me hours to calm him down and then time to
pacify the school. We were both at our wits end. When I decided that we needed
to go failsafe I totally cleaned out my pantry and freezer of everything that
wasn't 'safe' and went shopping. My son has adapted really well to the new
foods and never complains about it. Because I had no angry foods in the house
neither of us looked for them and my son was content to eat what was available.
He now sticks strictly to the diet and will not eat anything unless he reads
the label first and if he doesn't understand the label he says no because mum
hasn't said he could have it and he doesn't know if it's 'safe'.
I am so proud of him today. From a child who
was on the verge of being expelled from Year 3 to a happy one in just over 3
months is amazing. It is a joy to get him from school each day as he always
comes out skipping/running and grinning like a busted watermelon - no more
tears. He has told me more than once he is feeling better now he is not so
angry all the time. We are one very grateful household. – by
email
From
[399] … on the tantrum roller coaster …(March 2006)
… When my son was two he was taken off the Neocate. Our paediatrician suggested a follow on formula
that was cow’s milk based but the protein was broken down into small chains.
Within days the poor child was on the tantrum rollercoaster, throwing tantrums
which generally lasted around half an hour at a time, where he'd hurt himself,
belt into things, bash anyone who was around, and he'd have 6 to 8 of these a
day. I was genuinely concerned that he was going to hurt himself or someone
else. I rang the paediatrician (by now I was well and truly on a first name
basis) and told him that I wasn't giving him any more of that formula …
[378]
Mr Revolting due to dairy (November 2005)
Thanks for your Fed Up book which was
recommended by the allergy clinic - we have been searching for years and
getting nowhere but now it seems we have found a large part of the answer to
our 6 year old son's behaviour problems. We are still working through the
challenges, but to our surprise, the first challenge we did (dairy) was a
definite FAIL! We almost didn't even eliminate dairy, because I was sure that
was not a problem for him, however I decided to err on the side of caution and
I'm glad I did! He became progressively grumpier, looked pale, seemed tired and
complained of tummy aches. After a couple of months of beautiful behaviour and
no tantrums, we were back to ‘Mr Revolting’. We are now dairy
free again, and it has taken about 10 days for him to get back to normal. - NSW
[861]
Mega tantrums due to food (November 2009)
I would just like to thank you for saving us
from having to put my nearly 6 year old daughter on ADHD medication!! I was
already known as the food nazi mum, my daughter
wasn't allowed any preservatives, flavour enhancers or artificial colours, but
all too often I was seeing behaviour that I knew was a reaction to additives
- I just couldn't work out what!!! Life
in our house was hell most of the time, and I was days away from taking her to
our GP to get it sorted when a friend suggested reading Fed Up. I've looked at
your website many times in the past but didn't know where to start - the idea
of cutting more food seriously caused me so much anxiety that I just couldn't
do it.
I only had to read a couple of pages to
realize that my daughter's diet was REALLY high in foods naturally high in
glutamates and bad antioxidants - I knew how badly she reacted to MSG, so I cut
those foods right back (her lunchbox used to have a tasty cheese and Ourmate sandwich plus a little tub of cherry tomatoes, then
a dinner of Nonna's tomato/mushroom pasta sauce!!) When ever we had take-aways I was fairly careful but it always consisted of hot
chips, which I've now realised just how much that nasty antioxidant affected
her ... the poor thing, I thought I was doing the right thing but I was just
making it worse.
Our daughter has gone from throwing major
tantrums over very small issues which used to result in her being locked in her
room until she calmed down - mostly for our sanity because she was just wild,
it could last anywhere from an hour to half a day sometimes!!!! She would
disagree with everything, talk back, never do what we asked- including simple
things like going to the toilet, so she used to constantly wet her pants
instead, or she wouldn't get dressed for school- even though she absolutely
loves going.
Before diet everything was a battle - I used
to look at her and think if she was someone else's kid I would avoid spending time
with that person because of how hard she made everything, so I of course have
been carrying around a huge amount of guilt from having thoughts like that. I
also couldn't work out why my 2 kids were so different, so I've spent a few
years blaming myself for this thinking it must have been something I did whilst
I was pregnant or breastfeeding etc. Its been really
hard, I've been on medication for anxiety for the past 6 months- surprising I
didn't start taking something years ago considering how badly I felt I was
coping with these issues!!!
Now we have an angel- the transformation is
truly amazing!!! If she does misbehave it actually only takes a 1-2-3 and she
usually does what needs to be done or said, the few time she has gone to time
out, its been for her ten- tens (our timeout rule is
she has to calmly breathe and count to ten, ten times- she can count to 100 now
so its changed a bit- good counting practice lol) and then she comes out calmly and apologizes etc.
Over the last 5 weeks we have seen our
daughter turn into a wild crazy thing twice, once was exactly 48 hours after
eating hot chips twice in one day aaaghhh - we had to
lock her in her room, she was OUT OF CONTROL!!!! The second time was after my
mother in law took her to the royal show - Vegemite sandwiches, take-away
chicken rolls, mini magnum icecreams.
Again it was 48 hours after! I always used to think she reacted immediately,
but I guess she had so much crap accumulate in her that it just seemed that
way!!!
Anyway thank you again!!! After the last mega
tantrum my husband was so amazed at the difference it has made he has decided
to cut out lots of the bad foods he eats at work, he was also a child like her and figures it
must be affecting him now in much the same way!! (He is quite the stubborn one that if I
had suggested it there is no way he would have made the changes, hehehe!!!).
Oh and the whole family have switched to A2
milk, and I have now just realized how sick and bloated normal milk makes me
feel!!! - Andrea, by email
See many more reader’s
stories.
A group of 227 three-year olds from the Isle
of Wight took part in a month long project by the UK Asthma and Allergy
Research Centre. For two weeks the children drank a daily fruit juice dosed
with 20mg of artificial colourings and 45mg of preservative, which are either
equal to or below permitted levels. The additives tested were the artificial
food colourings Tartrazine E102, Sunset Yellow E110, Carmoisine
E122, Ponceau 4R E124, and the preservative Sodium
Benzoate E211. All five were given at the same time in a single drink. For the
other two weeks the children drank a fruit juice which was identical in
appearance but without the additives. Parents filled in reports assessing their
child's behaviour on criteria such as interrupting, fiddling with objects,
disturbing others, difficulty settling down to sleep,
concentration and temper tantrums. The report said the results showed the
artificial food colourings and sodium benzoate preservative had 'substantial
effects' on behaviour. The scientists concluded that significant changes in
children's hyperactive behaviour2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-144483/Additives-make-children-behave-badly.html.
As a result of this study and a follow up
study with similar results by researchers from the UK’s Southampton University3,
the artificial colours mentioned above have since been banned in the UK. From
July 21, 2010, foods containing these colours in the EU must carry a label
warning 'May have an adverse effect on attention and behaviour in children’.
However, in Australia there has been no official move to protect children from
these colours.
Tantrums as a reaction to foods are a food
intolerance reaction, not a food allergy5.
1. Belden, AC, Thomson NR, Luby JL. Temper tantrums in healthy versus depressed and disruptive
preschoolers: defining tantrum behaviors
associated with clinical problems. J Pediatr.
2008;152(1):117-22. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2211733/?tool=pubmed
2. Bateman B, The effects of a double blind,
placebo controlled, artificial food colourings and benzoate preservative
challenge on hyperactivity in a general population sample of preschool children.Arch Dis Child. 2004;89(6):506-11.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-144483/Additives-make-children-behave-badly.html#ixzz0swySpl10
3. McCann D and others, Food additives and
hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community:
a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial.Lancet.
2007;370(9598):1560-7. Follow up to the trial above. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1719942/?tool=pubmed
4. Swain A, Soutter
V, Loblay R, Truswell AS.Salicylates, oligoantigenic
diets, and behaviour.Lancet. 1985;2(8445):41-2.
5. Allen DH and others Adverse
reactions to foods. Med J Aust. 1984;141(5 Suppl):S37-42.
Fed Up by Sue
Dengate, Random House
Fed Up with
Children’s Behaviour DVD by Sue Dengate
The RPAH Elimination
Diet Handbook with food & shopping guide 2009 available from www.allergy.net.au
The information given is not intended as medical
advice. Always consult with your doctor for underlying illness. Before
beginning dietary investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food
intolerance. You can find a supportive dietitian through the Dietitians
Association of Australia www.daa.asn.au or
write for our list of supportive dietitians (confoodnet@ozemail.com.au)
© Sue Dengate update
July 2010
