Free fatty acid supplementation produced small but significant reductions in ADHD symptoms even with probably blinded assessment s , although the clinical significance of these effects remains to be determined .
Artificial food color exclusion produced larger effects but often in individuals selected for food sensitivities .
OBJECTIVE Nonpharmacological treatments are available for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) , although their efficacy remains uncertain .
The authors undertook meta-analyses of the efficacy of dietary ( restricted elimination diets , artificial food color exclusions , and free fatty acid supplementation ) and psychological ( cognitive training , neurofeedback , and behavioral interventions ) ADHD treatments .
The effects of essential fatty acid supplementation by efamol in hyperactive children
Thirty-one children , selected for marked inattention and overactivity , were studied in a double-blind , placebo-controlled crossover study of essential fatty acid ( EFA ) supplementation . Subjects received the active treatment and placebo conditions for 4 weeks each and were assessed on a variety of cognitive , motor , and st and ardized rating scale measures .  EFA supplementation ( evening primrose oil ; Efamol ® ) result ed in significantly lower levels of palmitoleic acid ( a nonessential fatty acid ) and higher concentrations of dihomogammalinolenic acid , an EFA previously found to be deficient in some hyperactive children . Supplementation was also associated with significant changes on two performance tasks and with significant improvement to parent ratings on the subscales design ated as Attention Problem and Motor Excess of the Revised Behavior Problem Checklist . However , a variety of eight other psychomotor performance tests and two st and ardized teacher rating scales failed to indicate treatment effects . When the experimentwise probability level was set at.05 , only 2 of 42 variables showed treatment effects . Baseline EFA concentrations appeared to be unrelated to treatment response . It was concluded that EFA supplementation , as employed here , produces minimal or no improvements in hyperactive children selected without regard to baseline EFA concentrations
Free fatty acid supplementation produced small but significant reductions in ADHD symptoms even with probably blinded assessment s , although the clinical significance of these effects remains to be determined .
Artificial food color exclusion produced larger effects but often in individuals selected for food sensitivities .
OBJECTIVE Nonpharmacological treatments are available for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) , although their efficacy remains uncertain .
The authors undertook meta-analyses of the efficacy of dietary ( restricted elimination diets , artificial food color exclusions , and free fatty acid supplementation ) and psychological ( cognitive training , neurofeedback , and behavioral interventions ) ADHD treatments .