ADHD Drug Ritalin Stunts Growth
Ritalin, a commonly prescribe medication to treat kids with ADHD, has been shown to decrease growth rates in children who have taken Ritalin for three years.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children who have been on Ritalin for three years are 1 inch shorter and 4.4 pounds lighter than other kids in their age group.
Indeed, while kids with ADHD who have not been treated with Ritalin are larger than the norm before treatment, the study found that they "show stimulant-related decreases in growth rates after initiation of treatment, which appeared to reach asymptotes within 3 years without evidence of growth rebound."
According to WebMD, James Swanson, PhD, director of the Child Development Center at the University of California, Irvine noted that while medication had substantial immediate benefits for treating ADHD, "at 36 months the relative advantage of ADHD drugs over behavioral treatment is gone."
Source: WebMD (7/20/07)
