Millions of kids hit with ADHD diagnosis

Sometimes, it seems as if the kids who haven't been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder might start feeling left out.

Who knows, maybe they'll even act up just to get some attention.

A new survey finds an alarming number of children now have the condition--with 10 percent of all kids between the ages of 4 and 17 diagnosed with ADHD in 2007.

That's 5.4 million kids overall--up from 4.4 million just four years earlier, or a rise of 22 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey.

The biggest boost was in Hispanic children, who saw a 53 percent increase in ADHD cases. But the more alarming number is in older kids--researchers say there was a 42 percent jump in the 15-to-17 age group.

It's alarming, because kids that age have been known to fake the condition simply to get their hands on the dangerous stimulant drugs used to treat it. There's even an active online community for kids looking for tips on faking ADHD to get those pills.

Type "Fake ADHD" into the Google search box, and it will even offer "Fake ADHD for Adderall" as a suggestion.

Parents everywhere thank you, Google.

But the fact is, even the kids who aren't faking it may not have ADHD... because the problem in many cases isn't with the child.

It's with the teachers, doctors and even parents who are just too quick to diagnose any disruptive child as an ADHD case, write a prescription and send him off to the playground with a fresh supply of pills.

Two recent studies even found that millions of American children may have been misdiagnosed with the condition simply because they're younger--and are therefore less mature--than their classmates.

Researchers looked at children and ADHD diagnoses and arranged them by birthdates, and found that the youngest kid in any given kindergarten class is 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than the oldest.

And these kids are also being given those powerful and addictive brain-altering meds... even in kindergarten.

But these children don't need meds, because ADHD--real ADHD, and not the bogus diagnosis being slapped on kids who simply act up--is generally the result of poor nutrition and hormonal imbalances.

Kids raised on pizza, fast food and energy drinks are missing nutrients that are crucial to brain development.

Let them eat better, and you'll often find they'll behave better.

Then, don't be afraid to work in a little honest-to-goodness discipline--that works, too.