“She kept the entire household up through the night due to the nightmares she had. She would scream, kick and shout in her sleep. Some days she would even bang her head on the cot railing. When we take her and try to cuddle her to calm her, she would be restless and scream and kick and wriggle, even hurting us in the process. As a result bed time was always a nightmare for all of us. This would go on for hours and when she finally does fall asleep, it will be only for a few hours.”

Recollecting her thoughts about Natasha’s baby days, her mother had this to say of her 9 year old daughter who has now been diagnosed as hyperactive.

According to Natasha’s mother, Natasha was always more than a ‘hand full’. She used to be clumsy and didn’t seem to care about the spills, breakages and mess she created. Never listened to what was being said, and did not clean her mess.

When she started school, her books were untidy and she never wanted to do home work. Teachers complained that she couldn’t concentrate for more than a few minutes but said she was intelligent and would get good results if she can only apply herself and just sit in one place for five minutes!

Children in her class and in her school van said that Natasha was disruptive and very aggressive, wants to touch every thing and every one, and can’t mind her own business.

She would scratch at anything and even while walking would pinch leaves from trees, worry other children for no reason and even tare other children’s books or drawings.

Is it a lack of discipline?
Natasha’s mother was a neat and methodical person who was at her wit’s end concerning her daughter’s behavioural pattern. When she confronted her daughter about the accusations levelled against her, Natasha would tell lies, in an uncaring manner to cover up her wrong doings while biting her nails, or scraping her own self.

She gets very angry at such times and starts hitting with what ever she can lay her hands on. If she is given a good spanking by her parents, to discipline her, the situation gets worse, but in the end, after just a few minutes, she will be doing just the same thing!

It appears that hyperactive children don’t respond to discipline as other children do, whether that discipline be in the form of reasoning, depriving or a spanking. They will do the same thing immediately after discipline. This is easily detected if a parent has several children and administers the same discipline to all. So discipline is not necessarily the answer for a hyperactive child.

A word of caution before labelling your child hyperactive: Parents should examine to see if their child’s naughty or delinquent behaviour is due to negligence on their own part in administering discipline in a consistent, firm and yet loving way. Many children will become frustrated, irritable, stubborn and disruptive when they can’t get their own way.

If you have more than one child in the family, you can administer discipline to all regarding a situation and watch out for their behaviour. A hyperactive child will react in a completely different way to discipline than the other children. You can likewise leave your child for a day with an understanding friend, perhaps the mother of several children herself, with whom your child is familiar and ask her honest comments afterward.

Sometimes children who are uncontrollable at home with Mum show amazing cooperation and obedience when placed with a firm but loving friend. If this is the case, it would seem that your child may not be hyperactive. It may be that he just needs firm but loving discipline instead.

Does diet have any part in hyperactivity?
According to the late Dr. Ben Feingold’s theory that hyperactivity is the result of eating certain substances—some natural, some artificial by certain individuals to whom these substances are toxic and disturb certain brain functions that affect behaviour.

According to Dr. Feingold’s investigations, these substances are found in certain fruits and vegetables in their natural state and are also present more seriously in artificially coloured and flavoured foods and drinks.

Some doctors suggest it may be advantageous to change the diet of a hyperactive or hyperkinetic person. (Hyperkinesia comes from New Latin and Greek, hyper, meaning “over” or “extra,” and kinesis, meaning “movement” or “motion.”) Reports indicate that some parents have had good results with this method. However Dr. Feingold claims that only about 50 percent of his hyperactive patients are helped by a diet change.

Natasha’s parents too were told of this Dr. Feingold’s diet solution and so they too changed Natasha’s diet. Much to their surprise, she became a calmer girl, who can play with other children without getting upset for each and every thing and is able to concentrate and do her studies, actually sitting in one place for even as long as an hour!

What about sugar and sweets?
In connection with diet, it has been found that children who show signs of hyperactivity, such as tension, nervousness, fatigue, irritability, emotional imbalance and uncontrollable behaviour, could be suffering, even slightly, from hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar.

Glucose deficiency is usually attributed to an excess of insulin, which removes glucose from the blood at a faster rate than it can be replaced. The brain function depends on a constant supply of glucose from the blood. Hypoglycaemia impairs the efficiency of the brain and hence behavioural disorders result.

A craving for starchy, sweet things may indicate low blood sugar. This hypoglycaemic diet eliminates not only artificial colourings and flavourings but most sugars, especially cane sugar.

Sugar is dangerous to the hypoglycaemic person because it causes a sudden rise in blood sugar and that triggers the release of too much insulin to counteract it. Dr. Allan Cott, in an article on “Treatment of Learning Disabilities,” stated in this respect: “It has been the universal observation of those investigators who assess the child’s nutritional status that they eat a diet which is richest in sugar, candy, sweets, and in foods made with sugar.

Most children do not drink milk unless it is sweetened with chocolate syrup or some other syrupy additive. All the beverages which they consume every day are spiked with sugar - soda, caffeinated cola drinks, highly sweetened "fruit juices," and other concoctions which are sold to them on TV commercials. The removal of these foods results in a dramatic decrease in hyperactivity.” Thus some medical authorities counsel that sugar-based foods and drinks are not advisable for hyperactive children.

Is environmental pollution a cause?
There seem to be more hyperactive children in the cities than in the villages. Can there be a reason? Studies show that environmental pollution, especially high lead levels released into the atmosphere primarily through the exhausts of heavy motor-vehicle traffic, could possibly be a cause of the increase of hyperactive children in our cities.

The initial birth experience of an infant has also been considered an important factor in hyperactivity. One research investigator wrote: “The hazards confronting the foetus mount to a climax during the hours of labour. Birth is the most endangering experience to which most individuals are ever exposed.”

A complicated and hazardous birth process coupled with hypoxia, a deficient oxygen supply, are held responsible for the more subtle neurotic effects that may show up later on in life when the person is subjected to additional stress.

Are drugs the solution?
Stimulant drugs are used to control severe cases of hyperactivity. These stimulant drugs may be beneficial only to some and not to all and it is not a cure for the problem. Education and counselling on the other hand will be a definite advantage.

Parents will have to personally sacrifice their time and efforts in helping their child to overcome this behavioural disorder. Behaviour therapy, with emphasis on encouragement, commendation and reward when reasonable goals are achieved, may be a slower yet more effective and lasting way to aid hyperkinetic children.

ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is also associated with the syndrome of hyperactivity. An encouraging family atmosphere and consistency on the part of parents is a must. Just as important is a deep love for the suffering child, for without it any therapy would be doomed to failure.

Your child may be hyperactive. However, first make sure that the supposed hyperactivity is not in fact a lack of discipline. Try firm, consistent discipline in a loving, united home atmosphere.

Then make sure your child isn’t on a diet of junk food; eating and drinking artificially coloured, flavoured and highly sugared foods. If these methods fail, further medical tests may be needed to determine the exact cause of your child’s hyperactivity.