At 11:46 AM 8/10/98 -0500, Bill Lear wrote: > But, I'm also keenly aware that the beef that McDonald's buys is heavily subsidized by the state, their advertising is tax-deductible, that there is such a thing as health problems associated with the vast quantities of cheap fatty and sugary foods (my wife and I just visited with a pediatrician who is convinced that American childrens' diets are behind the rash of "ADHD" cases).< He or she may be right: the diet may have something to do with the ADHD miniepidemic (as might environmental pollution, absorbed by the child both before and after birth). But there are other causes: school administrators are looking for a "magic bullet" solution -- a technical fix -- for problem kids (mostly boys, for some reason). If the kid actually has ADHD or ADD, Ritalin or similar drugs is the fix. Many pediatricians are willing to go along the diagnosis and the prescription, but don't know much about psychiatry or medications. Also, kids are starting school (i.e., daycare) much earlier than they used to. This means that the young boys (4 to 7 years old) who used to spend a lot a time in unstructured play, are now in structured situations where their "abnormal" behavior is more obvious. (NB: I am not saying that ADHD is a wrong diagnosis for everyone but rather that it is overdiagnosed.) in pen-l solidarity, Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] & http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html
