Originally published September 18 2005
More than 4 million kids diagnosed with ADHD in U.S.
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A report by the CDC shows 4.4 million children in the United States have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and more than half those children are on medication for ADHD.
Data came from the parents of more than 102,000 kids.
---About 4.4 million kids had ever been diagnosed with ADHD.
---More than half of those kids (56 percent, or 2.5 million kids) were taking medication for ADHD when the survey was done.
---ADHD was diagnosed more often in boys than in girls.
---ADHD was diagnosed less often in minority children and those without health insurance.
The national survey was done by telephone.
Parents were asked if a doctor or health care professional had ever told them that their child had ADD (attention deficit disorder) or ADHD.
A history of ADHD diagnosis was more common in kids who were at least 9 years old compared with those who were 4 to 8 years old, the survey shows.
ADHD diagnosis history was most common among 16-year-old boys.
About 15 percent of them had ever been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the boys' parents.
For girls, a history of ADHD diagnosis was most common among 11-year-olds.
Six percent of them had ever been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the parents' reports.
For boys, ADHD diagnosis was more common in families living below the poverty level.
Among kids who had reportedly been diagnosed with ADHD, California had the lowest percentage of kids taking medication for ADHD (more than 40 percent) and Nebraska had the highest percentage (almost 58 percent).
ADHD treatments that don't involve medication weren't included.
It also didn't include people living in institutions, who might have higher ADHD and medication rates.
The survey was only done in English or Spanish.
That excludes families who don't speak those languages.
Data didn't cover undiagnosed ADHD cases or kids without an ADHD diagnosis who take medications for similar symptoms.
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