September is a month of beginnings and endings. It symbolizes both the end of the summer, and the beginning of autumn. It brings the end of baseball’s regular season, but the beginning of football’s regular season. September also brings memories of beginnings and endings during our school days, moving from one grade on up to the next, from junior high to high school, or from college out to the “real world.” But September also brings something else, something far more sinister, something that affects nearly 10 percent of school-aged children in America today with diagnoses showing no signs of slowing: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD as it’s more commonly referred to as, is believed to affect 4.4 million school aged children today according to the CDC—that’s approximately 8 percent of school-aged children as of 2003. What causes this mysterious disease—where children’s ability to focus on specific tasks is limited due to their hyperactivity and minimal attention span—is unknown. Many physicians feel it’s a genetically-inherited trait, while others say it stems from the child’s physical brain structure. Another potential cause of ADHD that has been discussed, but not nearly enough, are food additives found in foods commonly eaten by children around the dinner table or cafeteria table.

British researchers from the University of Southampton tested 300 children and discovered that children who drank juices with large quantities of food additives like food coloring and varying preservatives actually increased the severity of symptoms in children with ADHD. But the debilitating effects weren’t relegated to children diagnosed with ADHD. According to the researchers, they also affected children whose symptoms of ADHD were minimal, as well as those who never showed signs of ADHD.

Though the researchers don’t specify what foods contain these harmful chemicals, they do specify the ones guilty as charged: sunset yellow coloring, sodium benzoate (a very common food and drink additive), carmoisine, tartrazine and ponceau. These chemicals affected 3-year-olds the most, as researchers did the testing on two groups, one composed of 3-year-olds, the other composed of children 8 and 9 years of age.

Though these recent findings on various food additives contradict some dieticians’ beliefs that they have no impact on a child’s hyperactivity levels, it corroborates what a growing majority of dieticians say is a known fact: that food additives are detrimental to our physical and mental health, particularly school-aged children.

The question, of course, is what foods contain these harmful chemicals? Where to begin. You name the convenience food or drink, there’s a pretty good chance it has it. Sodas contain sodium benzoate, some fruity candies contain ponceau, a number of ready-to-eat meals contain carmoisine, and instant puddings, chewing gum, ice cream, as well as several jellies contain the coal tar derivative tartrazine.

The next time you’re cruising the aisles for your kids favorite snack items, you may want to take a gander at the ingredients: it could literally save them from a lifetime of inconvenience and distraction. Besides, do really want your kids eating tar?