She’s always tired. She can’t sit still. The slightest irritation brings on a screaming fit. Could your child’s diet be affecting her behaviour?

She’s always tired. She can’t sit still. The slightest irritation brings on a screaming fit. Could your child’s diet be affecting her behaviour? We all know the physical dangers of too much junk food, such as obesity and type two diabetes. But many experts now believe that constant consumption of ready meals and chicken nuggets can damage a child’s mind as well as her body. “Diet can affect cognitive ability and behaviour in children and adolescents,” concludes obesity specialist Dr France Bellisle in a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition. “Nutrient composition and meal pattern can exert immediate or long-term, beneficial or adverse effects.” In practice, this means dehydrated, additive-fuelled children who can’t concentrate, don’t sleep properly, or can’t sit still.

Eating Breakfast

Eating breakfast improves children's memory and concentration

Find out more Healthy Food for Happy Kids by Suzannah Olivier (Simon and Schuster, £10) or visit her website www.healthandnutrition.co uk. What Are You Really Eating? by Amanda Ursell (Hay House, £5.99) The Food Our Children Eat: How to Get Children to Like Good Food by Joanna Blythman (Fourth Estate, £8.99)