FOOD PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN: THE HYPERKINETIC SYNDROME
This is a typical day in the life of a hyperactive child, as described by an exhausted mother to Dr Doris Rapp, a paediatrician working in Buffalo, New York: ‘In the morning Matthew was stuffy and tired. He was cranky and would get upset over homework not done, cry, call himself stupid, and pester his sister. When he arrived home from school, he immediately took off shoes and did somersaults throughout the house. He thumped and jumped about the house, or would lie and watch television with his hands and feet tapping and banging away constantly. At dinner he rapped his fork and knife on the plate, picked up and handled things on the table, turned the salt shaker upside down, kicked the-table and his sister, and intermittently, throughout the meal, jumped up to do somersaults in the living room. After supper he would try to do his homework. He would get upset because he forgot some books and say-he was stupid. Hed write two or three words, rip up the sheet because of an error and do this about five or six times. He’d cry, get upset again, and the next morning either lose or forget his homework. At bedtime he would say that his muscles and belly had ached all day (a problem since his early years) and it would take an hour and a half to get to sleep. He’d roll and toss all night with bad dreams and talking. During the day he talked constantly about anything and would not listen. He never ate more than half a meal, never had an appetite. His nose was usually stuffy.
The proper name for Matthew’s condition is the hyperkinetic syndrome – although hyperactivity is often used as a diagnostic label, it is actually just one aspect of that syndrome. Other terms used for this collection of symptoms are minimal brain dysfunction and attention deficit disorder.
Estimates of the prevalence of hyperactivity range from 1 per cent to 20 per cent. Boys appear to outnumber girls by about five to one, but it may be that girls with the problem are less overtly hyperactive, and tend to display more subtle symptoms, such as inattention, speech disorders and mood changes, which may not always be identified as hyperkinetic syndrome.
The aggressive, destructive behaviour that is often seen in hyperkinetics usually develops later than the other symptoms, and may be largely a response to feelings of frustration that stem from the other symptoms. Hyperactive children may ‘grow out of it’ in time, but this takes a long time and their behaviour tends to get worse before it gets better. Their inability to concentrate or order their thoughts means that they generally do not learn much at school, even though they may be quite intelligent. Some have difficulty in writing and spelling. There is evidence of criminality and psychotic behaviour in some hyperkinetics when they reach adulthood, so it is advisable to try to sort out the problem sooner rather than later.
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