Food allergy in children with hyperactivity, learning disabilities and/or minimal brain dysfunction

Ninety hyperactive children, 22 children with learning disability and eight emotional-inattentive children were tested for allergy to 43 food extracts using the in vitro radioallergosorbent test (RAST). Fifty-two percent of all children exhibited allergy to one or more of the foods tested. Within the hyperactive group a statistically significant association was found between the number of allergies and teachers' (Conners) scores of hyperactivity. This association was statistically significant only in those hyperactive children who also had learning disability and minimal brain dysfunction. A statistically weak association was also found between a small number of children clinically diagnosable as hyperactive and the number of allergies or total allergy scores. A causal relationship between food allergy and a small subgroup of children with a primary diagnosis of hyperactivity is suspected.