Paul Williams, 13, has had almost as many psychiatric diagnoses as birthdays.
The first psychiatrist he saw, at age 7, decided after a 20-minute visit that the boy was suffering from depression…

What followed was a string of office visits with psychologists, social workers and psychiatrists. Each had an idea about what was wrong, and a specific diagnosis: “Compulsive tendencies,” one said. “Oppositional defiant disorder,” another concluded. Others said “pervasive developmental disorder,” or some combination.
Each diagnosis was accompanied by a different regimen of drug treatments…

At a time when increasing numbers of children are being treated for psychiatric problems, naming those problems remains more an art than a science. Doctors often disagree about what is wrong…

“Psychiatry has made great strides in helping kids manage mental illness, particularly moderate conditions, but the system of diagnosis is still 200 to 300 years behind other branches of medicine,” said Dr. E. Jane Costello, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University. “On an individual level, for many parents and families, the experience can be a disaster; we must say that.” …

These behaviors are so common, particularly in boys, that critics question whether attention disorder is a label too often given to boys being boys. But most psychiatrists agree that while many youngsters are labeled unnecessarily, most children identified with attention problems could benefit from some form of therapy or extra help…

Still, many psychiatrists believe that, although childhood bipolar disorder may be real in families like the Finns, it is being wildly overdiagnosed. One of the largest continuing surveys of mental illness in children, tracking 4,500 children ages 9 to 13, found no cases of full-blown bipolar disorder and only a few children with the mild flights of excessive energy that could be considered nascent bipolar disorder — a small fraction of the 1 percent or so some psychiatrists say may suffer from the disease.

Source: New York Times
http://tinyurl.com/2bdof4

The total of annual prescriptions has for the first time overtaken the number of youngsters thought to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder…

This will fuel fears that Ritalin is being used as an easy option to sedate healthy children rather than tackling the cause of their hyperactivity through diet and other means.

‘The long-term administration of these drugs can cause damage to the heart. There has been an increase in strokes, heart attacks and sudden deaths linked to these drugs.

‘There is a worrying gap in our knowledge about what happens when they are given over a long period of time.

‘There are already concerns about the psychological effects, but we do not know what will happen to people who have been taking these drugs for 20 or 30 years.

‘These drugs have chemical elements which are the equivalent of speed and cocaine. It is time the medical profession held up its hands and said we have got this wrong.’ …

‘It is recognised that there is limited information about the longterm efficacy and safety of methylphenidate. Stimulants such as methylphenidate are known potentially to affect weight gain and growth.’ …

Source: Daily Mail
http://tinyurl.com/2wdns3

Professor Richard Bailey, who has worked with Unesco as an expert adviser for physical education and sport, argued that some youngsters diagnosed with the conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be suffering from a lack of exercise.

He also said that instead of handing out drugs such as Ritalin, regular physical activity could help reduce the severity of problems for some children…

Bailey, professor of pedagogy at Roehampton University, London, told the Sunday Herald that ADHD was a “misunderstood” condition, with little consensus among experts over the causes of it.

Source: Sunday Herald
http://www.sundayherald.com/59016

In an interview with The Observer, Hughes voiced alarm that parents have much less faith than previous generations in their abilities to raise and guide their children, and wanted help to deal with their conduct.

‘I’ve talked to a lot of parents and one thing that has really struck me, and this is across all social classes, is a sense of lack of confidence around the parenting role - and particularly around setting boundaries for children,’ she said…

The minister identified a weakening of inter-generational family ties, an increased number of women working and greater pressures on children as key factors behind the widespread loss of confidence among parents…

‘Only parents can parent,’ she said. ‘It is not the Government’s job to tell parents how to nurture their children. When you’re a parent you don’t want to be told what to do - whether by your mother-in-law, a health visitor, and certainly not by the state.’

Source: The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1946047,00.html

Forget all the media products for babies on the market and go for the classic building blocks, suggests a new study linking playing with blocks with improved language acquisition in toddlers…

“Parents are inundated with messages that are totally unsubstantiated and totally ungrounded in cognitive theory. This study tried to demonstrate experimentally that there are particular toys that do help cognitive development. The burden should be on toy manufacturers to prove their claims.” …

… The key finding indicates playing with blocks leads to a statistically and clinically significant increase in language acquisition.

Source: Winnipeg Free Press
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/life/story/3768281p-4358151c.html

Preschoolers who were breast-fed show stronger verbal abilities than their bottle-fed peers, but the advantage may have more to do with their parents than with breast milk, a new study suggests…

“The beneficial effects of breastfeeding on children’s cognition may emerge only when breastfeeding is done in conjunction with other positive parenting behaviors,” write the study authors, led by Dr. Christina Gibson-Davis of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina…

But it’s also possible, Gibson-Davis and her colleagues point out, that general parenting practices are the main factor. For example, mothers who breastfeed tend to be better educated, and they may be more likely to engage their children in “stimulating activities,” such as reading…

The findings do not diminish the importance of breastfeeding, which experts consider the best nutrition for infants. In general, it’s recommended that babies be given breast milk exclusively for the first 6 months of life.

However, Gibson-Davis and her colleagues conclude, parenting skills are clearly key in young children’s cognitive development, whether they breastfeed or bottle-feed.

Source: CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/11/08/nursing.verbal.skills.reut/

While pediatricians may play down diagnostic and stimulant medication rates for ADHD, from the early ’90s Australian statistics show a 2,400 per cent increase in the prescription of dexamphetamine sulfate and a 620 per cent rise in methylphenidate. Since then, defined daily doses - the amount individual children are consuming a day - have also risen steadily.

While there has been mention of a slowdown in prescription rates and greater caution on the part of pediatricians, recent figures show that since the inclusion of Ritalin in the PBS, prescriptions for Ritalin rose from 523 a month in August 2005 to 5,800 a month in January 2006…

The stumbling block towards a better solution for these children is that the ADHD debate has been characterised by the need to find a bad guy. Conveniently for some, parents usually top the list - even when the suspected villain is bad food, bad television or bad video games. The road inevitably leads back to the parent, who is seen as either failing to discipline their children, feed them “healthy” food or spend quality time expanding their minds.

The hypocrisy underlying this debate is obvious…

It has to be said, unpopular though it may be, that it is those others who stand to benefit when parents fail to reach the bar. Somehow the dubious PR practices of psychologists who target their local area pre-schools and daycare centres with flyers offering parenting programs, “aimed at the prevention and treatment of behavioural and emotional problems in children between 2 and 12 years”, seem to fly under the media radar…

Research shows that teachers are often the first to suggest that challenging behaviour may indicate Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Research also indicates, however, that teacher perceptions of child behaviour are influenced by factors such as class size. In the US, this has prompted several states to introduce legislation to prevent teachers recommending that children be medicated.

Source: ON LINE opinion
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5099

This is what good parenting is about - finding a balance that allows you to have some control over your children and teach them about boundaries, while still being affectionate and respecting their thought and feelings…

Children whose parents manage to strike the right balance in how they go about controlling and caring for them have been shown to benefit in many ways from their social skills to their achievement in school…

Your children will not adapt well if you impose strict rules that they have no say in or punish them harshly without giving any consideration to their feelings…

On the other hand, if you don’t impose any control over your kids when they are young and are unclear about how they should behave, they are likely to struggle to learn selfcontrol because young children need rules and guidance.

Source: Daily Record
http://tinyurl.com/25vhug

… The fact is that math has a tarnished reputation in our society. It is commonly accepted that math is difficult, obscure and of no interest except to “certain people,” for example nerds and geeks…

The consequence is that the study of mathematics carries with it a stigma, and people who are talented at math or profess enjoyment of it are often treated as though they are not quite normal. We hope to turn that stigma around and show students that mathematics is the most human of endeavours…

“Why should I have to take all this math?” I hear you ask. Well obviously, the main reason to study math at an advanced level is that it is interesting and enjoyable.
However, it is also extremely important in many different areas – not only science and technology, but also finance, accounting, economics and computer science to name a few. Mathematics is about the observation of patterns, estimation of results and testing of conjectures.

Source: Cayman Net News
http://www.caymannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000078/007882.htm

Since the family planning policy was implemented almost three decades ago, Shanghai has seen 1.4 million only children step into their 20s.

Higher education and closer relationships with parents are some of the special features of this generation that differ from Chinese children from big families, said experts. But at the same time, they are found to be picky in jobs, lonely, and under higher pressure to care for their elderly parents…

“Holding high expectation for jobs,and refusing to take hard or low-paid work are common problems among the only child. Part of the cause is the improper family training,” Gui said.

Gui explained some parents and grandparents have pampered and spoiled the only child, or “little emperors,” which weakens their competitiveness in the job market and their ability to adapt to society.

Source: CHINAdaily
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/04/content_724619.htm