Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, has recently suggested (on a BBC podcast) that the “surge” in childhood ADHD diagnoses is linked to poor diet.

He shared:  “Looking back now, there’s no doubt the food I was eating was directly linked to my behaviour. I was never diagnosed with ADHD, but I think nowadays it’s this common thing that every child seems to be being diagnosed. And I think a lot of it can stem back to the diet and the foods that we’re eating.”

ADHD and diet

ADHD UK released a statement countering his claims:  ‘It was really disappointing to hear Joe Wicks linking a processed food diet to having ADHD. Joe is a force for so much good but on this he is abjectly wrong. His core point that a good diet can help people in so many ways is absolutely correct. But a diet good, bad, or ugly won’t make you have ADHD or make you not have ADHD.”

ADHD is a neuro-cognitive style – one which people are born with – and has a genetic component. All of us, ADHD or not, benefit from fresh food and some sneaky extras, as part of a ‘balanced diet’ and of course that will be different from person to person and across cultures.

When high processed foods are easy and relatively cheap to buy then they are a go-to food for many people and families. We live in a capitalist hellscape which means many of us have to work 40+ hours a week to earn money which doesn’t guarantee we can afford fresh food, let alone the time and energy to cook ‘decent’ home meals. Other marginalised experiences also effect our accessing to good quality fresh food.

Marginalisation and food access inequity

It can be difficult to access, afford and cook fresh food as a Disabled person. Supermarkets are not the easiest places to access due to crowds, bright lights, smells, lack of ramps and reliable lifts, lack of (or inadequate accessible) parking – the list could go on. The ability to physically be able to prepare food, especially if you live in government housing which is not fit for your access needs, is not something all of us can do. The fallacy that all Disabled people have a support network which allows us to get help with shopping and cooking is also not helpful.

If you live rurally, then large supermarkets with fresh foods are harder to get to, especially in large countries such as the United States. Buying food from small shops becomes more expensive and less likely to have the fresh produce you might need. In these cases, processed foods can become a literal life saver.

It can also be difficult to access culturally appropriate food such as Halal fruit and veg, especially if you live in countries with a smaller Muslim population. Issues can also be experienced by refugees and people seeking asylum. Food access inequity is a real thing which Joe Wick’s statement does not appreciate.

Is ADHD diagnosis “surging”?

Blaming ADHD people and their families for being ADHD has so many layers of ableism it could be a blog in itself. ADHD is not a problem, condition, or illness which needs curing (see Ditching the Deficit and Disorder), it is a simple fact of human diversity.

Some ADHD folks do struggle with their neuro-cognitive style and may explain their experience this way, which of course they have every right to do. However, ‘blaming’ ADHD on poor diet is tantamount to saying that poor people are poisoning their children. Not only is this harmful to Disabled people and people in lower socio-economic classes (and how these intersect more often than not), but this is also misogynistic. Under Euro-colonial heteronormativity ‘the woman’ should do most of the housework, including food shopping and cooking, so essentially it is her fault that a child behaves in a way that is “challenging”.

Diagnosis is likely happening more often due to the growth of understanding and acceptance, as well as experiences of inequity in systems including the criminal justice system, housing, and education. Families want to understand their children better and support them appropriately, if anything is ‘surging’ it is the care networks that neurodivergent people and their families are creating to protect our welfare.

What Joe Wicks has shared is not only harmful to ADHD folks, and those who support us, but also shall affect people of other minorities too. I wish that people who are trying (?) to advocate for healthy changes in all people’s lives would stop punching down on Disabled folk to make their point. Joe, your internalised ableism is showing.