Millions of U.S. children are living with mental health disorders, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC looked at the rates of various mental health conditions among American children for its first comprehensive report on the state of mental health among children aged between 3 and 17.
About one in five children of these ages have a mental health disorder, according to the CDC, and the numbers seem to be going up as does the cost of health care associated with the conditions.
CDC: One in five children between ages 3-17 have a mental health disorder
'Millions of children in the U.S. have mental disorders that affect their overall health and present challenges for their loved ones. In addition, the financial costs of childhood mental disorders are at least an estimated $247 billion each year,' Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said in a news release.
'We are working to both increase our understanding of these disorders, and help scale up programs and strategies to promote children's mental health so that our children grow to lead productive, healthy lives.'
Childhood mental health disorders include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders, behavior disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, substance use disorders and Tourette Syndrome.
CDC researchers worked alongside other federal health agencies in order to come up with the number of children diagnosed with mental health disorders between 2005 and 2011.
Pricey: The costs of childhood mental disorders are at least an estimated $247 billion a year
They found ADHD was the most prevalent disorder affecting nearly 7 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 3 and 17.
Behavioral or conduct problems followed affecting 3.5 percent of children, then anxiety (3 percent), depression (2 percent), autism (1 percent) and Tourette's (0.2 percent for 6 to 17-year-olds).
The CDC in March reported one in 50 U.S. school children have some form of autism. This is significantly higher than the one in 88 estimate put forward by the government last year,
Older adolescents, from ages 12 to 17, were tracked for substance abuse disorders.
Prevalent: ADHD is the most prevalent disorder affecting nearly 7 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 3 and 17
The report showed nearly 5 percent of them used an illicit drug within the past year, more than 4 percent said they used alcohol, and almost 3 percent admitted cigarette dependence within the past month.
The CDC hopes to better understand the impact of these mental health disorders to inform needs for treatment and intervention strategies.
Children with the disorders are also more likely to have chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy than children without mental health problems.
The disorders can also last into adulthood, increasing risk for decreased productivity, substance use and injury, and substantial costs both to the individual and the U.S. economy.
The CDC also pointed out that suicide, the second-leading cause of death among adolescents between 12 and 17, can result from the interaction of mental health disorders and other factors.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2326699/One-U-S-children-mental-disorder.html#ixzz2Tm5gXsBt
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