Most children with a very common condition aren't receiving any treatment

07 May 2023 , 06:31

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Girls were half as likely as boys to receive any treatment (stock image) (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Most children with one common condition aren’t being treated at all, a new study has warned.

Around five per cent of children in the UK are living with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), one charity has claimed.

But despite its prevalence, the vast majority of kids who have ADHD are said to receive no medical treatment at all.

One study looked at 11,723 children aged nine and 10, and found few children were getting medication or mental health treatment.

The study, which relied on parent-reported ADHD, found that only a quarter, 26.2 per cent, had ever received outpatient mental health care.

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Only just over one third of children had ever received any kind of medical treatment for their ADHD, the study found (stock image) (Getty Images)

Similarly, only 12.9 per cent were taking medication just over a third, 34.8 per cent, had ever received treatment full top, according to the study, published in the peer-reviewed JAMA Network Open.

The shocking figures paint a picture of the majority of children thought to be living with ADHD never receiving any help at all.

But the gap in treating children was even sharper when it came to girls as well.

When it came to the children receiving medication, over twice as many boys were as girls, 15.7 per cent versus only seven per cent of girls.

Similarly, white children, 14.8 per cent, were more likely to have been given medication than Black children, 9.4 per cent.

The study said: “Reports of increasing rates of children treated with medications for ADHD have fueled public and professional perceptions that childhood ADHD is overdiagnosed and overtreated.

“However, a focus on the increasing numbers of children treated for ADHD does not give a sense of what fraction of children in the population with ADHD receive treatment.

“Beyond estimating the overall proportion of children with ADHD who receive treatment, it is important to understand which children with ADHD are more or less likely to receive treatment.

“This study suggests that pervasive gaps exist in the treatment of children, especially girls, with parent-reported ADHD.”

Kieren Williams