welcome back we are helping you live
healthy today and there is a new study
out that shows children born in August
are more likely to be diagnosed with and
treated for hypertension
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
this is found in US states where
September 1st is the cutoff for children
aged 5 to start kindergarten that means
those August foreign children would be
among the youngest in the classrooms
sometimes nearly a year younger than
their other classmates so joining me now
to explain the findings of this study is
dr. Wilbur Jacobs a family physician
with Family Practice Associates of
Orange Park thanks for coming in today
with us thank you so much you know this
is such a hot topic right now because
there are a lot of parents out there
grappling that they may have children
who they believe are a little overactive
maybe a little rambunctious and they
just don't want their kids labeled ADHD
so how do you determine that your child
actually has this condition well ADHD
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
it's it's really a issue with staying on
task focusing concentrating possibly
hyperactivity and we really just want to
make sure that we are finding out what
the issues are you know getting to the
bottom of what is causing issues with
this child's ability to succeed in the
classroom setting and all those things
that you're listing they're exhibited in
young children period I mean there are
kids that are more mild-mannered
but at that age they're supposed to be
off task you know at 3 and 2 so it looks
like most people are diagnosed at the
age of 6 and beyond
and does that give you a time to kind of
settle down and say ok this is a problem
or maybe this is just my child's like
temperament and there may be just normal
childhood
you know personality traits that this
child has that you know resembles ADHD
but is it causing an issue with this
child's ability to succeed are they able
to enjoy academia and still feel like
they are celebrated and and they can
still be individuals you know but we
really want child children to be able to
you know come home and feel like they
can present themselves that they can say
you know I like school my parents see
that I'm succeeding that I'm trying and
you know my teachers are proud of me
because that is the thing you know you
know children with ADHD
they deal with you know the
comfortability to be themselves because
they're always being told sit down don't
do this you know you're you need to calm
down and they don't they don't ever
really find themselves because they're
constantly being disciplined even though
they may be excelling academically it
becomes like a discipline issue so you
know when you're thinking about whether
or not you're gonna put your young child
in school should you maybe wait a year
and let them be the oldest kids will
they do better well you really won't
really know what the child's issues are
until they start you know and keeping
the child from being able to start
school at a higher time you know may not
actually result in them to developing
any further during that year you know I
would hate to start because I was a nerd
I loved school so but for those who do
have issues therapy started sooner than
later is really the recommendation and I
know a lot of people may not prefer the
idea of their child being on a
medication but you know let's not forget
that we always do recommend behavior
therapy as well ok with that medication
yeah exactly and we can also provide
accommodations for that child who has
issues you know as far as providing more
time for testing setting them apart so
they're not easy easily distracted to
make sure that they have the best chance
of success and everything you're saying
requires a relationship first with a
doctor and also with your teacher and
that's why it's so important to have
those conversations because a teacher
may say you know yeah your child may be
a little overactive let's let's let them
go ahead to the next level but like you
said let's put in some accommodations to
make sure that they have a space to take
a test in or maybe a little bit more
time or away from other kids in the
class exactly and if there are any
concerns that there could be a dual
issue then you know the physician along
with the parents and teachers often
recommend you know referrals to a
psychologist to really find out you know
are there any other issues such as
anxiety fear bullying that could be
causing something that resembles ADHD
because we really want to make sure that
we're treating these children
chronically yeah and I read a study
recently that said the behavioral
therapy coupled with the medication
really is the key because you want to
teach your kids how to cope I often say
ADHD can be your superpower if you know
how to manage it because you're able to
juggle a lot of things that get them
accomplished but it is a challenge
schools when you're dealing with
behavioral issues exactly so thank you
for coming in appreciate it make sure
that you are talking with your teachers
and your doctor and getting the help
that you need because I hate to see kids
labeled unnecessarily but then I hate to
not see them get the treatment when they
need it so if you missed any of this
information do not worry we post this on
our website news for Jax comm you'll
find it under the live healthy section
thanks for coming in thank you so much