Why are ADHD Rates 20 Times Higher in the United States Than in France?

"American kids and French kids aren’t that different, but the way they are treated is. Is it possible that the U.S., along with other countries, has a bunch of lazy doctors who find it easier to prescribe whatever parents request, rather than conducting a thorough, holistic, analysis of their patients?... Children may be needlessly taking powerful drugs intended to correct a poorly understood disorder."

Why Are ADHD Rates 20 Times Higher in the U.S. Than in France?
by Judy Molland, care2.com, 6 December 2013

Are U.S. kids more rambunctious and unfocused than French kids? Probably not, but comparing the statistics on ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) between the two groups, it would appear so.

In the United States, at least 10 percent of school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD and are taking some kind of pharmaceutical medication to deal with it. In France, the percentage of kids diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is less than .5 percent.

The statistics for American children are startling: 19 percent of high school-age boys, ages 14 to 17, in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADHD and about 10 percent are taking medication for it. Ten percent of high school-age girls have likewise been diagnosed. Fifteen percent of all school-age boys have been diagnosed with ADHD and 7 percent of all school-age girls.
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