ADHD

by Circle of Moms Editors

How many children really have ADHD?

As The New York Times reports, the latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that an astonishing 11 percent of school-age children are diagnosed with ADHD, with high school boys receiving the highest number of diagnoses: 19 percent.

While some say the numbers reflect growing acceptance of the condition, Dr. William Graf — who calls the numbers "astronomical" — feels that they are a result of misdiagnoses: "Mild symptoms are being diagnosed so readily, which goes well beyond the disorder and beyond the zone of ambiguity to pure enhancement of children who are otherwise healthy."

Professor of psychiatry and ADHD researcher James Swanson agrees: "There's no way that one in five high-school boys has ADHD."

Read more (New York Times).

by Leta Shy

Should warning labels be on artificially dyed foods? The FDA is trying to decide this following a study showing that those petroleum-based dyes found in everything from cereal to candy can cause behavioral problems like ADHD. If the findings worry you, moms who still want to make a colorful treat for her kids can still feed them the rainbow by using natural food dye, which are made from the colors naturally found in certain foods.

If you want to try out natural coloring, making your own can be half the fun of an afternoon of family cooking! Lil ones will love to experiment with homemade color combinations, which use common kitchen ingredients like red cabbage, beets, turmeric, onion skins, and coffee to impart pretty shades of pink, red, orange, and more.

Store-bought dyes are another great option, especially for decorating baked goods. India Tree Nature's Colors come in a pack of liquid red, yellow, and blue ($19) and can be combined to make other colors, while Nature's Flavors sells many different shades in powder and liquid form ($15 each).

While natural food dyes don't give you those vibrant colors that we're used to from artificial dyes, what better time than Spring and Easter than to experiment with different shades of pastels! What natural food dye tricks do you use?

Source: Flickr User AmberStrocel

by POPSUGAR Fitness

Not too sure that organic produce is worth the extra dough? This may change your mind. It looks like scientists in the US and Canada may have found a connection between pesticide exposure and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Researchers tested 1,000 kids, ages eight to 15, and analyzed their urine for traces of pesticides. They found that 119 of the participants had signs of ADHD. And get this — the children with the highest concentrations of pesticides were twice as likely to be diagnosed with this condition as compared to the kids who had only traces of the chemical in their urine. That's a huge difference. The pesticides detected were ones commonly used in conventional produce such as frozen blueberries, strawberries, and celery.

ADHD affects about 4.5 million children in the US, and 2.5 million take medication to treat their condition. That means the findings of this study aren't something that should be ignored, as the connection between pesticides and ADHD is pretty strong. Certain pesticides will leave the body after about a week, but this study shows that some degree of pesticide residue will remain in the body, making exposure to these chemicals ongoing. Kids are especially at a greater risk since their young bodies are still developing.

Scientists aren't saying that eating conventional produce that's treated with pesticides will automatically lead to the development of ADHD, because many other factors may be involved, but this study may offer yet another reason to choose organic foods whenever possible.

by POPSUGAR Sex & Culture

What is going on with today's teens? I just read a study that said there's been a 76 percent rise in emergency room visits between 1998 -2005 among teens who are abusing ADHD drugs like Adderall. (They crush the meds, which may or may not have been prescribed to them, snort them, and can experience side effects that mimic cardiac arrest.)

And now, a news report says that not only are many teens abusing alcohol and drugs — they're delivering those substances to their systems in bizarre and harmful ways. In Phoenix, AZ, they're snorting vodka, and some teens are soaking vodka in their tampons, which, as one expert said, can damage their reproductive systems. (And I would rather not visualize what an anal beer bong is.)

This is just sad. I was a pretty innocent teen, and although there were some bad girls in junior high who brought alcohol to school, I don't think they were doing drugs.

The woman in the video who specializes in dealing with teen substance abuse says that drug use triples between sixth and eighth grade. Did you see this in your schools growing up?