More Than Half of all Primary School Children Taking Drugs

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

It’s not just kids in the U.S. folks. Children throughout the world are being over-medicated by doctors and their own parents.

A survey was conducted to find if children were at risk of being over-medicated. The recent Melbourne (Australia) study found more than half of all primary school children take some sort of medication at least once a “fortnight.” (fortnight: fourteen nights or a period of fourteen consecutive days)

According to the study, the medications are often not prescription drugs but common over-the-counter medications bought by parents. Researcher, Dr. Alissa Lim, found 15 per cent of the 250 different medications identified in the study were for prescription use only.

The study found that “sixty-two per cent of children had used at least one medication in the two weeks covered by the survey and 14 per cent had used four or more.” Children were most commonly medicated for conditions that included viruses, headaches, asthma and eczema.

Study authors believe the findings show a need for better education targeted at parents. “Parents should be aware that many drugs had only been tested on adults and there was limited information on effectiveness, safety and dosage for children,” stated Dr. Lim.

Kids ‘at risk of over-medication’