Does sugar make children hyperactive?
No — the evidence does not support this claim.
Eating sugar makes children hyperactive.
What the evidence shows
Controlled studies have repeatedly failed to find that sugar causes hyperactivity in children. A 1995 meta-analysis of 23 experiments concluded that sugar does not affect children's behavior or cognitive performance. The persistent belief appears to stem largely from expectation: parents who think their child has had sugar tend to rate the child as more hyperactive, even when no sugar was given.
This summary describes a fact-check originally published by Medical News Today. FactGuard did not conduct this review; we summarize it and link to the original. Read the original fact-check by Medical News Today →
Sources
- Medical News Today
- JAMA meta-analysis of 23 studies (1995)
Published 2026-06-07 · Last reviewed 2026-06-07
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