Parents do not need anyone to tell them that a child who has just turned five is very different from a developmental point of view than a child who is about to turn six.
But delaying schooling by one year until the child matures and can go with similar children in development, it is very difficult to achieve, although studies like this of Harvard Medical School, show that Being born at the end of the year can cause a child to be wrongly diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
False Diagnostics
The study "Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Month of School Enrollment", published in The New England Journal of Medicine, shows that North American children born in August (in states where the age cut for the course is set on 1 September) are 30 percent more likely to receive a diagnosis of ADHD, compared to their slightly older peers enrolled in the same class.
The rate of ADHD diagnoses among children has increased dramatically in the last 20 years, worldwide. Experts believe that the increase is due to a combination of factors, including greater recognition of the disorder, a real increase in the incidence of the condition and, in some cases, an inappropriate diagnosis.
In Babies and more ADHD affects between two and five percent of children in Spain, and early diagnosis is importantThe results of this new study, according to the research team, highlights the idea that, at least in a subset of elementary students, the diagnosis could be an earlier school enrollment factor.
"Our findings suggest the possibility that a large number of children are being overdiagnosed and over-treated for ADHD because they are relatively immature compared to their older classmates in the first years of Primary."
This is stated by Timothy Layton, author of the study and professor at the Blavatnik Institute of Harvard Medical School.
In Babies and more How to know if my child has ADHD: symptoms, tests, how to proceed, how to avoid a false diagnosisThe researchers explain that what might be normal behavior in a bustling six-year-old child might seem abnormal in relation to the behavior of older classmates in the same classroom.
And this dynamic is particularly accurate among younger children, since an age difference of eleven or twelve months could lead to significant differences in behavior.
"As children grow older, small age differences equalize and dissipate over time, but from a behavioral point of view, the difference between a six and seven year old child could be quite pronounced."
This is stated by Anupam Jena, lead author of the study, professor at Harvard Medical School and internal medicine doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital. And he adds that:
"Normal behavior may seem anomalous in relation to the child's peer group."And it is not the first time that the smallest of the class is related to the diagnosis of ADHD, although not with such an extensive follow-up and a study group so large that it provides more conclusive results.
Two years ago we told you about an investigation carried out with Australian children, and published in The Medical Journal of Australia, and that they concluded a greater number of diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder among children of the same course born later .
How was the Harvard study conducted?
Using the records of a large database of medical insurance companies, the researchers compared the difference in the diagnosis of ADHD by month of birth between more than 407,000 children in nursery school born between 2007 and 2009, and followed them until the end of 2015
According to the analysis, in US states that use September 1 as the deadline for school enrollment, children born in August were 30 percent more likely to have an ADHD diagnosis than children born in September. No such differences were observed between children born in August and September in states with deadlines other than September 1.
For example, 85 of the 10,000 students born in August were diagnosed or treated for ADHD, and only 64 of the 10,000 in September. When the researchers observed only the treatment for ADHD, the difference was also large: 53 out of 10,000 students born in August received medications for ADHD, compared with 40 out of 10,000 for those born in September.
One year apart, the same requirements
Differences in development are experienced in Spain between children born in December and those born in January and attending the same class. And it is that the school year here is organized according to the natural year of birth, so that students with different maturation level coexist
In Babies and more, is it better to be of the elderly or of the minors?In 2009, the Ministry of Education published a general evaluation of the education of students in the fourth year of primary school (nine and ten years). The results showed a higher performance among students born in the first quarter of the year.
And, parallel to this, there are the paternal requirements: we want our children to be the smartest, to learn to read at an earlier age and to spend more time in school than ever, and then in extracurricular schools to do everything , come to everything we could not.
And if this is added that also in class they are required to learn academic content at an early age that may be well above their capacity for development, the result is that the child ends up failing, and can be diagnosed with problems that do not They are true when compared to children almost a year older than them.
Children who read more slowly than their peers are regularly labeled with a reading delay and are prescribed 'school support' to help them catch up.
Because it seems that everyone has to be the same at school. And if they also don't listen to the teacher and spend too much time daydreaming or writhing in their seats, young children often receive a Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) label.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). reports that approximately 11 percent of children between four and seventeen years of age have been diagnosed with ADHD, and that number increased by 42 percent between 2003-2004 and 2011-2012, and that most of those diagnosed received medications . Perhaps most worrying is that one third of these diagnoses occur in children under six years.
It should not surprise us that 'placing' very young children in artificial learning environments, separated from their family for long periods of time, is too hard a test for them. And, in addition, we expect them to comply with a standardized and evidence-based curriculum ...
When will we allow our children to develop at their own pace, without pressure, and to reach knowledge only when they are prepared and not compelled before?
I encourage you to do this reflection. I'm in it too.
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