Do Food Additives Affect Kids?
Easy
Are food additives influencing the behavior of young children? That's the question this study set out to answer. It looked at the effects of certain food additives on the behavior of three-year-olds. The results showed that the psychological tests did not show any significant effect of the additives on the children's behavior, but the parental reports of behavior did show some effect.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that food additives can influence the behavior of young children.
Method & Materials
You will give children either a placebo or an active drink containing the additives sunset yellow, tartrazine, carmoisine, ponceau 4R and sodium benzoate. You will then evaluate their behavior with clinic-based psychological tests and parental reports.
You will need a placebo or an active drink containing the additives sunset yellow, tartrazine, carmoisine, ponceau 4R and sodium benzoate, as well as clinic-based psychological tests and parental reports.
Results
The study concluded that the psychological test results did not show any significant effect of the additives on the children's behavior, although the parental reports of behavior did show some effect. Parents observed an improvement in behavior when the additives were removed from the diet, and an increase in hyperactivity when the children were given the drink containing the additives.
Why do this project?
This science project is unique because it looks at the effects of food additives on the behavior of young children, which is something that has not been studied in depth before.
Also Consider
Experiment variations to consider include looking at the effects of different types of food additives on the behavior of children, or looking at the effects of food additives on children of different ages.
Full project details
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