Big rise in child ADHD prescriptions

Prescriptions for drugs to treat hyperactivity have soared in a decade with more than 100,000 Kiwi kids now on them.

That’s an increase from about 60,000 children being prescribed such drugs in 2001.

In Taranaki the numbers of kids prescribed drugs (including Ritalin, Rubifen and Concerta) to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) went from 1400 in 2001 to 4800 last year.

Canterbury has the most kids on the drugs – with 13,300 getting prescriptions last year.

The rise has one expert convinced the drug is being over prescribed and kids misdiagnosed because of it.

It’s widely agreed that up to 5 per cent of school children are affected by ADHD, but the number of children prescribed the drug last year puts that number at around 12 per cent based on the current population of children under 14.

That’s a concern to psychologist and behavioural expert Frances Steinberg who believes kids are being misdiagnosed with ADHD when they are actually suffering other problems such as foetal alcohol syndrome, sleep deprivation or anxiety.

Dr Steinberg said diagnosing ADHD was a complex process, that required a lot of time to get right.

‘‘But it’s a lot easier to write a script and see what happens.’’

She didn’t blame parents – who were often hesitant for their children to go on drugs – but lazy medical professionals.

But Dr Andrew Marshall, a developmental paediatrician, disagreed, saying the increase was down to a higher awareness of the disease and better understanding about the condition and the drugs that treated it.