In less than a decade, the rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among children climbed by 42%, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the data show the behavioral condition is increasingly being diagnosed in kids as young as 6 years old.
Those were the most worrisome findings from the National Survey of Children's Health, an exhaustive study of youngsters ages 4 to 17. Comparing the periods 2003--04 and 2011--12, investigators found 2 million more ADHD diagnoses and 1 million more kids prescribed medication for the condition.
What's driving the surge? Greater awareness of the...