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Title: Caffeinated Colas Linked to Inattention, Hyperactivity in First-Graders

"Caffeinated Colas Linked to Inattention, Hyperactivity in First-Graders"

By Paula Moyer ATLANTA, GA -- May 27, 2005 -- Physicians may want to ask questions about a child's consumption of caffeinated beverages when a parent complains of the child's being inattentive, restless, and having difficulty sleeping. Because of the ubiquitous presence of caffeinated soft drinks in vending machines at schools and in the refrigerator at home, this may be the culprit rather than attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, said Alan R. Hirsch, MD. In a small double-blinded study of first-graders, he and his co-investigator observed that children had more behavior problems, as measured by a six-question modified Connors symptom questionnaire, on the days that they were exposed to caffeinated colas than on the days that they had caffeine-free drinks. These findings, presented here May 23[^rd at the 158^th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), may provide a simple answer to some instances of children's hyperactivity.

"We found that exposure to caffeinated cola drinks impaired children's learning ability by causing restlessness, hyperactivity, and inattention," said Dr. Hirsch. "On the days that the children were drinking caffeinated drinks, their Connors scores increased an average of 5.5 points compared to the days that they were only drinking caffeine-free drinks." Dr. Hirsch is the director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation and an assistant professor of both neurology and psychiatry at Rush Medical College in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

The study involved 20 first-grade children, 10 boys and 10 girls. In three-hour time segments that occurred sequentially over a two-week study period, the students were given up to 12 ounces of either a caffeinated cola drink or a caffeine-free cola drink. The children were given 10 dimes with which they could "buy" repeat servings of their designated drink for the study session after an initial serving of two ounces. At the end of each session, the children's teacher, who did not know the purpose of the study or the type of soda each child consumed, assessed each child's behavior with a modified Connors test.

On the study days, the children consumed an average of 7.55 ounces of caffeine-free cola and 9.45 ounces of caffeinated cola (P = .03). On the days without caffeine, the children had an average modified Connors score of 1.55. On the days they drank caffeinated cola, the children had an average score of 7.00 (P = .002). Among the individual students, 60% had elevated Connors scores on the caffeine days, while 15% had higher scores on the caffeine-free days (P = .008). The remaining 25% had consumed the maximum servings of both types of drinks and were not included in the analysis.

After adjusting for non-caffeine-related factors, such as the number of ounces consumed and the amount of sugar in the drinks, the scores were still higher on the caffeine days (P = .015).

The findings should support physicians' recommendations regarding restricting children's dietary caffeine, and they could also have implications regarding school systems' friendly relationship with vendors.

"Children ages 6 to 11 years old conservatively drink an average of seven to eight ounces of carbonated soda per day," said Dr. Hirsch. As the findings show, "this can have a substantial impact on children's behavior in school."

[Presentation title: Behavioral Effects of Caffeinated Cola Consumption in First Graders. Abstract NR45.]

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