ADD/ADHD

I recently wrote about the challenges of a child when they have been labeled as having learning disorders.  Then, earlier this evening, I got into a conversation about learning disorders with my sister, whose son was diagnosed as ADHD last year.  She had begun researching some of the attributing causes of her son's diagnosis, and the best ways to help her son.  While we may not have the same ideas on the best "treatments" for ADHD, we did strike up an interesting conversation about the causes.

Yes, ADHD does have a genetic link.  It tends to run in families.  However, studies done over the last few years seem to link television viewing in children, especially young children, with altered neuro-pathways in the brain.  My sister and I began to discuss this issue, since it is a part of both of our families.

What became obvious was that, while there may have always been issues with attention problems in children, this seems to have become a more wide-spread problem.  While no study could say conclusively that television viewing caused ADD or ADHD, it does seem to have a major impact in brain development.  One article listed some facts that gave me a lot to consider.  Here are some of the points made by The ADHD Information Library.

• Young people spend an average of 6.5 hours per day with entertainment media, or over 44 hours per week!
• Since young people often multi-task with media, they are actually exposed to about 8.5 hours of entertainment media every day, or about 60 hours per week.
• TV, videos, and music are the dominant entertainment media, averaging 4 hours every day.
• Internet use for fun averages about 1 hour per day.
• Playing of video games averages 1 hour per day.
• By comparison, reading books, magazines, or newspapers averages only 45 minutes per day. Doing chores averages 30 minutes per day, and doing homework averages 50 minutes per day.

I have read a lot of information over the years about ADD/ADHD.  My step-daughter was diagnosed with ADD about six years ago.

I also learned that ADD/ADHD can be brought on by other causes.  One article suggested that many other disorders can look like ADD/ADHD.  Things from abuse to sleep problems can all attribute to attention problems and be diagnosed as ADD/ADHD.  Some children may simply be misdiagnosed because they are thrown into a school setting at a younger age than they are ready.

Other factors are being studied on whether they contribute to ADD/ADHD.  All of this research is nice, as it keeps parents dealing with children that have a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD some things they might try with their children.  I don't want to eliminate common sense however.  There is much debate over whether many of the things that might contribute actually do or not.  Parents need to be informed, but I believe they should also use the common sense God gave them.

If your child is watching hours of television, then maybe it should be severely limited or cut out.  It obviously is going to be better for the child to be read to a lot and to have a lot of play time, preferably outside.  Healthy food is going to be better for brain and body development than food with little nutritional value.

My personal opinion is that we are a society of ease, and our children may be paying the price.  While genetics play a major factor, I believe that many other things could be huge issues in how those genetics work themselves out.  When more children are diagnosed with ADD/ADHD when they begin school at younger ages, maybe we should stop pushing children to do things totally unnatural, like sitting for hours at a desk at 5.  Five year olds were meant to be climbing trees and chasing butterflies, not sitting all day at school... or in front of a television!  The human body was not meant to perform at peak when loaded with additives and preservatives.  Does it make sense that a child's still forming body wouldn't have detrimental problems with long-term consumption of unhealthy foods?  And, does it seriously seem like good brain development to have a child watching scenes on a television that change so quickly that the real world seems slow and dull by comparison?

ADD/ADHD is a major problem in America today.  Many children are medicated to treat the disorder.  For some, medication to treat imbalances in the brain is simply that, medication to help.  However, so many children could be helped with alternative therapies.  The longer I research ADD/ADHD, the more I believe that we could change so much of the symptoms by changing lifestyles.