Parents may want to change their diets after a new study appearing in the Journal of Attention Disorders shows an association between a typical Western diet and cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Researchers examined the dietary patterns of 1,800 adolescents as part of a long-term study and classified the diets into "healthy" or "Western" patterns.

A healthy pattern is a diet high in fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and fish. It tends to be higher in omega-3 fatty acids, folate and fiber. A Western pattern is a diet with a trend towards take-out foods, confectionary, processed, fried and refined foods. These diets tend to be higher in total fat, saturated fat, refined sugar and sodium.

"We found a diet high in the Western pattern of foods was associated with more than double the risk of having an ADHD diagnosis compared with a diet low in the Western pattern, after adjusting for numerous other social and family influences," said lead researcher Wendy Oddy.

Researchers say that while their study suggests that diet may be implicated in ADHD, more research is needed to determine the nature of the relationship.

ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed childhood mental health disorder and has a prevalence of approximately 5 percent. ADHD is known to be more common in boys.