Can Bad Diet Equal Bad Behaviour?

OK so we all know that kids that eat each too much sugar can be a lot more hyperactive and aggressive.  According to a number of sites and research articles this is due to a child's lower tolerance to change in sugar levels.  So if, of course, a child consumes a large amount of sugar as they come down they become agitated and hyper due to an increased amount of adrenaline. With autistic kids this can mean very erratic and violent behaviour. 

While of course I am most certainly no expert and advise anyone reading this to do their own research into the topic I can speak of our own experiences with Seraphin and her sister.

I have mentioned before about Seraphin's tendency to eat when stressed and worried.  It was not until recently that put some serious steps in place to help control these urges and realise the link in extreme behaviour.  Some favourites of Seraphins are, pasta, breads, chocolate, sugar (the white powdery stuff directly), dry biscuits (Clix etc...), sweet biscuits and lollies. 

We took the extreme step of moving ALL of these types of foods from the pantry to our walk in robe and installed a lock with key.  This of course meant that in most cases the children would need to ask for a parent to unlock the walk in robe to be able to get a treat.  As the walk in robe is in our bedroom this of course also meant they could not sneak midnight snacks.

It took a good solid couple of weeks although after a bit of time we did notice a significant decrease in extreme behavioural out bursts from Seraphin and her younger sibling.  Seraphin has also now started to not loose weight but get closer to the normal range in weight for height and age.

So while there still seems to be some debate about diet among professionals, we have definitely found that a lower sugar intact and more consistent diet has improved our children's behaviour. Although I will leave it up to our readers to decide for themselves.  ;)

I'll leave you with the latest video from Seraphin, a speed art Rangoli.  If you don't know what that is, don't worry I didn't either until I checked this video met the requirements of her Art assignment.  ;)