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March 5th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda MONDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) — A new Canadian study provides
more evidence that too many young kids may be diagnosed with
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, simply because they’re
younger than their peers in the same classrooms.
Researchers found that nearly 7 percent of boys aged 6 to 12 were
diagnosed with ADHD overall, but the percentage ranged from 5.7 percent
for those who were the oldest in their grade levels to 7.4 percent for the
youngest. There was a similar gap for girls, although they’re much less
likely to be diagnosed.
The findings, which are similar to those from U.S. studies, don’t prove
definitively that any kids are being wrongly diagnosed with ADHD or being
diagnosed purely because they’re younger than their peers.
Still, “it’s good for parents to know about this,” said study author
Richard Morrow, a health research analyst at the University of British
Columbia. “In general, the younger you are within your grade, the more
likely you are to receive this diagnosis and get treatment.”
ADHD is a controversial developmental disorder, and there’s been debate
about whether it is overdiagnosed. The researchers launched the study to
determine whether a student’s age in relation to his or her peers may have
something to do with the likelihood of diagnosis.
The study authors examined the records of over 930,000 kids in British
Columbia who were between the ages of 6 and 12, during the time period
from 1997 to 2008. They focused on differences between kids born in
January (who’d typically be the oldest in their classes) and December
(who’d typically be the youngest due to cut-off dates for school
enrollment).
The level of ADHD diagnosis was lowest for kids born early in the
year — the oldest ones in their classes — and highest for those born
later in the year. Kids born in January and December had the lowest and
highest rates, respectively: 5.7 percent of boys and 1.6 percent of girls
for those born in January, and 7.4 percent of boys and 2.7 percent of
girls among those born in December.
Boys born in December were 30 percent more likely to be diagnosed and
41 percent more likely to be treated with ADHD medications than boys born
in January were, while the youngest girls were 70 percent more likely to
be diagnosed and 77 percent more likely to be treated with medications
than the oldest girls were, the study found.
“There is no reason for them to have this kind of difference in their
diagnosis,” Morrow said. “The way we would interpret that is that there
are differences in maturity that are coming into play.”
In other words, physicians and teachers may think kids have ADHD when
they’re actually just younger and less mature than their peers.
Richard Milich, a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky
who studies ADHD, said the findings make sense considering that the
disorder is difficult to diagnose, especially at younger ages.
When ADHD becomes an issue, Milich said, parents should be aware of
this kind of research and bring it up with their pediatrician or whomever
else is appropriate. However, “I hope it doesn’t get to the point that
people say it’s not a valid disorder,” he said.
Kids with ADHD “do poorer in school, they’re more likely to be left
behind and more likely to drop out of school early. Across the board, they
are impaired,” Milich said. “Whether you want to call it a disorder or
not, we know that’s what they’re at risk for.”
The study appears in the March 5 issue of the CMAJ (Canadian
Medical Association Journal).
More information
For more about ADHD, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
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