While it would seem that there are some children in Britain with ADHD, it beggers belief that we suddenly have 10,000's of children suffering from it, maybe 100,000's. In the same way, I find it hard to accept that we have the same number or even more of kids that can't eat peanuts.
Or fruit.
Or vegetables !
ADHD is notoriously difficult to diagnose, in the same way that "bad backs" are. I have a friend that works as a Paediatric Nurse in America and she has become very become alarmed at the huge rise in Ritalin being prescribed to young children, some of them only toddlers. It is estimated that more than 5 million kids are being given this very powerful anti-psychotic drug, with no way of knowing what the long-term side effects may be.
She tells me that when Ritalin is prescribed, most parents are delighted, as their over active kid will behave for the first time. But she is sure that most of these kids are just naughty and equally sure that most parents lack simple parenting skills that were common only a generation or two ago. To put it frankly, the lower down the social scale, the more likely it is to be prescribed. Unfortunately, the drug companies are in cahoots with the Doctors over the Pond, so its no wonder the situation is getting worse.
I found the following on the 'net this afternoon, which may be of interest ::
http://www.laleva.cc/choice/ritalin.html