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<\/div>For children in the US, ADHD diagnoses are on the rise<\/p>\n
SDI Productions\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
More than 7 million children in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD<\/a> at some point. This is about 1 million more kids than had been diagnosed with the condition as of 2016, the last time nationwide estimates were calculated.<\/p>\n However, this increase is not necessarily cause for concern. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s that huge of a jump,\u201d says Scott Krakower<\/a> at Northwell Health in New York, who was not involved with the study. \u201cBy and large, [childhood ADHD] has hovered around 10 per cent for years.\u201d<\/p>\n Melissa Danielson<\/a> at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and her colleagues estimated the prevalence of childhood ADHD using a subset of data from the 2022 National Survey of Children\u2019s Health, which included a nationally representative sample of more than 45,000 children aged 3 to 17 living in the US.<\/p>\n Using this data, the researchers estimated that 7.1 million children in this age group \u2013 or roughly 1 in 9 \u2013 in the US had an ADHD diagnosis<\/a> in 2022. The same was true for about 6.1 million children, or about 1 in 10, in the previous survey conducted in 2016, indicating an increase in the prevalence of the condition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The growth in diagnoses could partly be due to more awareness about the condition, says Danielson. It may also be related to the covid-19 pandemic<\/a>, as many kids switched to virtual schooling during lockdowns, which could have made inattention or hyperactivity issues more apparent to parents, says Krakower.<\/p>\n The researchers also found that about 30 per cent of children with ADHD<\/a> didn\u2019t receive treatment for the condition in 2022. The same was true for only 23 per cent of kids with the condition in 2016.<\/p>\n This difference may reflect the impact of covid-19 lockdowns, since behavioural treatments are commonly offered through school, says Danielson. It could also be a result of ongoing shortages of ADHD medications<\/a>, she says.<\/p>\n