What is ADHD? Why do children have ADHD?

Parents play a very important role in children's growth stage. They not only have to educate children but also ensure their safety. Then there is a problem that every parent is worried about, that is, ADHD in children. Today let us understand what ADHD in children is.

What is ADHD in children

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is also known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is a common abnormal behavior problem in children. The intelligence of such children is normal or close to normal, but there are defects in learning, behavior and emotions. The main manifestations are that the attention is not commensurate with the age and development level, the attention span is reduced, the attention time is short, the activities are too much regardless of the occasion, the emotions are impulsive, etc., and they are often accompanied by cognitive impairment and learning difficulties. The disease starts before school and is a chronic process. The disease not only affects children's school, family and extracurricular life, but also easily leads to children's persistent learning difficulties, behavioral problems and low self-esteem. Such children have difficulty getting along with others at home and school. If they are not treated in time, some children still have symptoms in adulthood, which significantly affects the patient's academic performance, physical and mental health, and family life and social skills in adulthood. Domestic and foreign surveys have found that the prevalence of the disease is 3% to 10%, the male-female ratio is 4 to 9:1, and premature children suffer from this disease more often.

Why do children have ADHD?

1. Genetic factors: The disease is hereditary. If someone in the family suffers from ADHD, the child’s chances of developing ADHD will increase significantly.

2. Delayed brain development: Children with ADHD often have more perinatal complications, start speaking late, have clumsy movements, lack of fine motor coordination, and are more likely to suffer from enuresis and encopresis.

3. Social and psychological factors: mainly include tense family atmosphere, parental discord, parental divorce, inconsistent views of parents on educating their children, heavy study burden, bad study habits, lack of maternal love or deprivation of maternal love, improper teaching methods of teachers or lack of understanding of children, etc.

4. Neurochemical changes: If a child's brain has dysfunctions in multiple neurotransmitter systems such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin systems, he or she is very likely to suffer from ADHD.

What are the symptoms of ADHD in children?

1. Overactive children are more active than their siblings in the mother's womb. Infants and preschoolers are particularly active, showing signs of hyperactivity, crying, restlessness, difficulty meeting demands, poor self-control, frequent movements, small movements in class, disturbing classmates, running around, and restless sleep.

2. Lack of concentration. The patient's concentration is short-lived or scattered. The patient looks around and is easily distracted. The patient seems to be half-listening to what is said. The patient is not focused in class or when doing homework. The patient is sloppy and procrastinates. Otherwise, the patient makes mistakes frequently and is easily attracted by things around him. The patient often starts but does not finish other things.

3 Children with learning difficulties and ADHD have normal intelligence, but have difficulty concentrating, have difficulty learning, are not focused on learning, have no patience, find it difficult to complete homework, have sloppy handwriting, poor calculation ability, poor comprehension, poor memory, often write and count in reverse, have poor learning initiative, have unstable or failing grades, and may even repeat a grade.

4 About half of the children with neurological developmental disorders have soft signs of the neurological system, such as clumsy rapid alternating movements, uncoordinated ataxia, inability to walk in a straight line, difficulty standing with eyes closed, positive finger-to-nose test, and inflexible fine motor skills. Some children may have visual-motor disorders, spatial position sense disorders, etc.

How to Prevent ADHD in Children

1. Currently, the effectiveness of sensory integration therapy for children with ADHD is between 40% and 60%. Therefore, early prevention of sensory integration disorders in children is of great significance for the occurrence of ADHD.

2. For example, the proportion of children born by caesarean section who suffer from sensory integration disorder is twice as high as that of children born naturally. This is because children born by caesarean section have not gone through the squeezing of the birth canal and can easily misjudge the strength of the touch.

3. In addition, children should participate in various activities after they are born. Some children living in high-rise buildings often have few opportunities to go downstairs for outdoor activities, and the proportion of sensory integration disorders is relatively high.

4. Some children are used to playing with electronic toys. Compared with traditional toys, they have less fine exercise in certain parts of their fingers and are more likely to suffer from sensory integration disorder.

5. Some children do not go through the crawling stage after birth, but directly start walking and running. This makes the coordination ability of the trunk, limbs and left and right brains not fully exercised, and it is easy to have sensory integration disorder. In short, we should encourage and promote children to participate in various sports, use their hands and brains frequently, and strengthen the training of fine movements.