Short-term effects of an elimination diet and healthy diet in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a randomized-controlled trial

AbstractAn Elimination Diet (ED) may be effective in reducing symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but has never been compared to an active control condition [i.e., Healthy Diet (HD)]. In a two-armed RCT, a total of N  = 165 children (5–12 years) with ADHD were randomized by means of minimization (1:1) to either an ED (N = 84) or HD (N = 81) within two Dutch child and adolescent psychiatry centers. The design included a non-randomized comparator arm includingN = 58 children being treated with Care as Usual (CAU). Treatment allocation was unblinded. The primary outcome was a 5-point ordinal measure of respondership based on a combination of parent and teacher ratings on ADHD and emotion regulation, determined after 5 weeks of treatment. Ordinal regres sion analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. Fewer ED (35%) than HD (51%) participants showed a partial to full response, despite overall good-to-excellent treatment adherence (>  88%) and comparable high parental prior believes. A younger age and higher problem severity predicted a better respondership. CAU-preferring participants responded more often favorably (56%) compared to ED—but not HD—participants. Small-to-medium improvements in physical health (blood pressur e, heart rate, and somatic complaints) were found in response to ED/HD versus decrements in response to CAU (74% received psychostimulants). The lack of superiority of the ED versus HD suggests that for...
Source: European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research