children (Page 4)

Newswise – We recently asked the question, how can millions of US kids all have the same disease? Over four million children in this country are being medicated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In the past, children’s short attention spans have been blamed on too much television watching. Now experts say the whole problem may be a lack of sleep.

Sleep researchers say that before prescribing Ritalin or other drugs, doctors should question parents about their child’s sleep habits. Children with ADHD are fidgety and seem overstimulated, unable to concentrate in class. If ADHD kids are TOO alert, how can they be sleep-deprived?
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ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) is being diagnosed in so many children, that over four million children in the US are now officially classified as having it. The highest rates of diagnosis are among Caucasian children from educated families, probably because these parents can afford to send their children to doctors who can diagnose it. But when that many people have a disorder, statisticians usually say it’s part of our culture and we should deal with it on a broad level, such as advising families to change their eating or TV watching habits, rather than treating it individually. ADHD may simply be a normal part of being a kid in our culture.
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Musicians Bob Geldof and Bono may be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the series of Live Aid concerts they’ve organized to raise money for aid to Africa. They’ve pledged to wipe out poverty there by raising $50 billion, which is twice what Africa gets now. But while large donations are welcome, they aren’t necessary: If developed countries gave the 42 poorest countries as little as $1.23 per child per year, 6 million children could be saved. Even the poorest countries could get enough food and medicine for needy children if they had just that small amount of extra money.
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Newswise – Elementary schools are full of sleepy students who are tootired to learn because of lost sleep, due to nightly battleswiththeir parents over bedtimes or staying up late to watchtheir favorite TV shows. A survey of almost 200 fifthgraders found that the majority of them regularly experiencesleepdeprivation and feel tired during the day. Nearly half saidthey had trouble waking up in the morning on school days.It’s the same effect as if they changed time zones every day.

Researcher Denise Amschler says sleep “plays a key role inthe prevention of disease and injury, stability of moodand the ability to learn?Elementary school-aged childrenrequire an average of 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night,and most aren’t getting it.”
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