Feeding The Brain: How Foods Affect Children [Paperback]

C. Keith Conners (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001

An informative look at how the foods we feed our children can shape the course of their growth, development and behavior.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Ignore the alarmist title! A prominent neuropsychiatrist reviews and interprets a broad spectrum of experimental scientific studies on the interaction of food and behavior in infants and children. Included are classic studies on sugar, hyperactivity and aggression, breakfast composition, artificial sweeteners, critiques of fads (the Feingold diet, and megavitamin therapy), and general issues, e.g., food allergies. Conners's "Behavior Problem Checklist" integrates research with practice, providing parents with specific at-home procedures for evaluating and improving food-behavior effects. Recommended for public libraries.
- Elizabeth Fielder Olson, Archer & Greiner, Haddonfield,
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

C. Keith Conners, Ph.D. is currently Director for ADHD at Duke University Medical School. He is the author of several hundred articles in the fields of behavioral research and children's medicine as well as the highly acclaimed book Food Additive and Hyperactive Children.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738206202
• ISBN-13: 978-0738206202
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #434,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great alternative to meds!, March 29, 2007

By 

C. Rozenwaser (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Feeding The Brain (Hardcover)

If you have a child who is sensitive to different foods that may be affecting behavior, this is the book for you. Was very helpful in addressing behavior that can be caused by foods. I used it for my child and found good results. It is not the easiest thing to change your child's diet, but if the behavior difference becomes apparent even to the child, then you have won half the battle. A must try before you put your child on meds!!

5.0 out of 5 stars This Needs To Be Taught In School, December 5, 2011

By 

Katherine White "Katherine" (Niantic, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feeding The Brain: How Foods Affect Children (Paperback)

For such an advanced world that we live in we seem to be missing instruction on how our body best operates. This book helps make it clear that there are scientific ways that we can benefit our bodies our brains our functioning and our lives as well as others lives by eating foods that will provide our body the chemicals we need to function more optimally. How to provide the body what it chemically needs through eating should be taught in school in many different ways in every grade. I hope this author will consider writing texts and work sheets on the subject for grades K-12. Good Luck and Have Fun!

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical advice on confidently evaluating diet affects, May 29, 2011

By 

stephanie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Feeding The Brain: How Foods Affect Children (Paperback)

One of the mains of this book is that food is basically chemicals, and is turned into the chemicals are brains use -- therefore, the foods we eat can affect our behavior. Makes sense to me! Foods can affect us just as drugs/medications do. The author also recognizes that diet changes may not be the answer for everything. It would be nice that one facet of life could be optimized and fix everything, but it's not that way (just see my boy on too little sleep!). But food choices can make improvements.

This book brought up a lot of interesting things I would never have thought of on my own, and gives pretty specific advice on how to do your own trials with children's diets. I haven't tried anything specifically yet, but I'm going to and look forward to evaluating my data. Besides bringing to light several specific food issues (food additives, aspartame, high sugar diets, etc.), this book also talks a lot about making observations, being critical and questioning of studies reported and our own jumped-to conclusions. My 7-year-old already thinks he's a scientist, so he is excited to expirement, which is helpful, but his knowledge of the expirements can also get in the way (the whole placebo affect); however, I think with this book's advice I'll know how to handle it.

I also like how it critically looks at all sorts of studies and gives the pros and cons of how they were administered, reported, and conclusions made from them. It helped me remember to look at things more carefully.

I would've like to seen more on cortisol, seratonin, tryptophan, etc. I also would've liked to have more detailed guidelines for doing home trials. After all the discussion leading up to that chapter, I thought there would've been more charts, lists, and such. But I still think I have enough to go on, and it gave me a lot to think about and look into. Definitely recommend this to anyone, but especially people with behavior problems in their families.