*The Center for Disease Control (CDC) published a research recently that had surprising results for the racial differences in the prevalence of ADHD. Their findings suggested that Black children were more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (among other learning disabilities) as opposed to white children.
This comes as a surprise because previous studies into the matter had suggested that white children were more likely to develop ADHD symptoms. The lead author of the new report, Benjamin Zablotsky said that the CDC still doesn’t know what might have led to this drastic change.
Factors Other Than ADHD
CDC’s latest study had taken 3 years of data into account – 2016 to 2018, for a nationwide in-person survey. Their survey represented approximately 23,000 children who were aged between 3 and 17. Out of the children that were diagnosed with ADHD, 17% were Black, 15% were white, and 12% were Hispanic.
Additionally, this report didn’t necessarily cover ADHD and simply illustrates children who were diagnosed with ‘learning disabilities.’ This means the percentage includes children with dyslexia and other comprehension and reading problems. According to Zablotsky, these bottom-line conditions may be influenced by factors other than ADHD.
The Most Common Mental Health Disorder in America
Even though the CDC report takes other mental disorders into account and didn’t actually confirm diagnosis from medical records, they had good reason to believe that ADHD was the common denominator. Experts have believed for a long time that Black children were under-diagnosed, and they were at a higher risk of facing conditions that lead to ADHD. These risks included low birthweight and lead poisoning among other factors.
In addition, ADHD was also found to be the most common mental health disorder among American children since over 6 million children had been diagnosed. What’s more, this report also suggested that children who were living in poor households were more likely to be diagnosed as opposed to those who belonged to affluent households. Other than this, the reason for the unexpected increase was unclear.
There is no known cure for ADHD but parents still have an option of pursuing therapeutic ADHD treatments. These include psychotherapy, behavior therapy, social skills training, support groups, and parenting skills training. ADHD can be cured with a healthy combination of empathy, patience, and planning. To put it simply, the most effective treatment for children with ADHD is to make them feel better about themselves.
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