Syag says “Haha! Are you really pretending sugar and dyes effect behaviir? (FAke news!) And you put it on par with screentime and exercise? Too funny”
I have a friend whose daughter went nuts every time she ate a particular dye. And while sugar doesn’t affect behavior directly, poor eating affects the body tremendously.
And yes, screen time certainly affects behavior. Phones have blue light filters because using electronics before bed affects the release of certain hormones. Sleep depravation mimics ADHD symptoms.
Watching large amounts of television affects the release of certain hormones (dopamine) in the brain, which affects behavior. A child that doesn’t get out isn’t burning excess energy, which can affect their ability to focus. Want to test it on your own? Grab a group of young boys and make them run a few laps before a lesson. See how much quieter they are.
Further, watching tv may show empathy by sharing a conflict and resolution, but do not allow kids to experience the concept of turn taking, sharing, etc. A child that doesn’t know how to interact with peers may struggle to do so in class, which will cause doctors to slap on a label on a child that isn’t correct.
Perhaps “half” is a bit of a stretch. But the point is sometimes a person has to really look into the causes of their child’s issues, and make some changes instead of asking a doctor to write a script because their son isn’t paying proper attention.