Hyperactivity and Diet Treatment

Abstract

This paper is a review of primary research investigating the Feingold hypothesis which suggests diet modification as an efficacious treatment for hyperactivity. The techniques of meta-analysis were used to integrate statistically the findings from 23 studies. The primary finding indicates that diet modification is not an effective intervention for hyperactivity as evidenced by the negligible treatment effects which are only slightly greater than those expected by chance. When the data were refined into groupings related to outcome and design variables, support was rendered for the primary finding. It is concluded that extant research has not validated the Feingold hypothesis and that diet modification should be questioned as an efficacious treatment for hyperactivity.