RITALIN USED ON CHILDREN NOT AS OFTEN AS THOUGHT

More than one in 10 Australian children show symptoms of attention deficit
disorder (ADHD) or hyperactivity, a NSW parliamentary inquiry has been told.

But despite the fact that prescribing stimulant drugs such as Ritalin could
help many of them, the rate at which such drugs were prescribed in
Australia was low, it was told.

Previously, experts had estimated that about 3 to 5 per cent of Australian
children were affected by ADHD.

But Professor Beverley Raphael, from the NSW Department of Health, told the
inquiry into the use of prescription drugs by children that a national
survey had found 11 per cent of the total population aged two to 17 had
attention disorder symptoms.

The use of Ritalin and dexamphetamine has attracted growing controversy.

Latest prescribing figures have shown that as many as one in 36 schoolboys
are on the drugs, and that the rate of prescription has grown rapidly,
increasing ninefold since 1990 and tripling between 1994 and 1999.

But Professor Raphael said the prescribing of psychostimulant drugs for
hyperactivity and attention disorders was low compared with the prevalence
of the condition.

The highest rate recorded in NSW of 1.8 per cent "suggests that there isn't
a high rate of prescribing even for those with the disorder", she said.

Although drugs were not the only treatment, "for some children with the
disorder it's a specific and very helpful component of treatment".

Ms Robyn Monro Miller, co-ordinator of the Network of Community Activities,
the peak body for Out Of School Hours services in NSW, said the group was
concerned that children, particularly boys, were being prescribed Ritalin
just because society was unwilling to tolerate normal childish behaviour.