Effect of allergy medication on children's reading comprehension.

The impact of a very common over-the-counter antihistamine, chlorpheniramine, was measured in respect to the reading comprehension of 12 normal school-age children (5 boys and 7 girls) who had a history of allergic rhinitis. Each subject served as his/her own control, and a double-blind design was employed. Each child's parent was given two bottles of cherry syrup and told to administer the syrup in Bottle A for 3 days and then that in Bottle B for 3 days according to directions on the bottle. Parents and children did not know which bottle contained the medication. One of the two forms of a standardized reading comprehension test was administered at the end of each 3-day period in the allergist's office by a trained test administrator. Students were randomly assigned to the two conditions and to the form of the test administered. The mean reading comprehension scores of the drug and placebo drugs were 59 and 60, respectively, which were not significantly different. This study would indicate that common across-the-counter antihistamines should not adversely affect typical school activities such as reading comprehension if used appropriately. Even if some drowsiness or inattention may occur, children's cognitive functions are not affected sufficiently to disrupt learning.

Teacher opinion of the role of food allergy on school behavior and achievement.

There seems to be a common belief in the lay community and in some professional groups that food allergy is a prominent factor in the academic and behavioral problems of many school-age children. This is in spite of an available body of medical and social science literature to the contrary. This survey of teachers indicates their strong conviction of the role of certain foods, especially those containing sugar, in influencing such behaviors as attention, alertness, motivation, concentration, and activity level. Additionally, over half of those interviewed considered such problems with food an allergy or wondered if they were. These data suggest the need for improved communication between the medical and educational communities to prevent inappropriate responses to school-related problems and misreferrals to physicians for primarily educational problems.