Childhood diagnoses are on the rise. Are school children more ill or are we diagnosing better?

Childhood Disorders Are Up

Try and find a school that doesn't have children taking medications and using inhalers during the day. Dr. Ken Bock, co-founder of the Rhinebeck Health Center says children are less healthy. Bock, author of Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, Allergies [Ballantine Books 2007], doesn’t think it is just better diagnosing techniques. He thinks that exposure to

• toxins
• lead
• chemicals from plastics
• pesticides
• flame-retardants
• food additives
• and pollution

is overloading predisposed immune systems in small children. Bock states that asthma and allergies are especially linked to environment.

ADHD Up 400%

Over the past 25 years, the diagnosis for ADHD has increased dramatically. ADHD is now affecting 3% to 5% of school children. Worldwide there has been an increase of 274%. The United States prescribes more medication for Attention Deficit Disorder than any other country.

Dr. Ben Vitielio, psychiatrist for the National Institute of Mental Health, is an expert in child and adolescent ADHD. He states, "More attention was paid to mental health issues in children during the ‘90s when people realized that a lot of conditions that related to the brain start in childhood." Vitielio believes food coloring plays a minor role in ADHD.

Bipolar Disorder Up 40-Fold

Is bipolar overdiagnosed or just being recognized better in children? Dr. Gonzalo Laje, co-author of a study released in the September 2007 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry reports that is it probably some of both. In the past ten years, the psychiatric community has begun diagnosing mental health conditions in younger children. Two areas that overlap are bipolar and ADHD. Children that have one seem to have the other, as well.

40% of Children Have Allergies

Genetics and environment play a role in the increase in allergies. Dr. Asriani Chiu, professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, states that the environment triggers the allergies to appear. Chiu, professor of allergy and immunology, says, "Because we are not exposing ourselves to all of the dirt and the endotoxins that we would have seen if we lived on a farm, our bodies have nothing else to do. Immune systems kick into overdrive."

Asthma Is Up 160%

Chiu sees a relationship between allergies and asthma. In fact, he says that the first method of treatment for asthma is to treat the allergies. 70% of people with asthma have allergies. Allergies fall into two categories:

• upper respiratory track allergies
• food allergies

While adult food allergies fall in the 1% range, children are likely to fall in the 2% to 4% ranges.

Sleep Disorders

25% of children have some kind of a sleeping disorder. It is unknown if that statistic is rising because records were not kept during the past 25 years. Brown Medical School professor, Dr. Judy Owens, states that sleep issues have been linked to

• obesity
• asthma
• allergies
• ADHD
• bipolar disorder

Dr. Owens states that often a child with sleep problems can have ADHD symptoms. What this child needs is more sleep.

While doctors disagree what is causing the rise in childhood diagnoses, the exposure to chemicals in our "better living" is a contributing factor to some degree. Perhaps because we are so clean and conscious of bacteria and germs, we are seeing immune systems decline.

Source: Jean Weiss, health.msn.com, October 21, 2007

Related articles: Bullying And Sleep, Organic Foods in Schools

Read previous articles on Educational Issues.

Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.