Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 5 March 2020
ADHD diagnoses increasing in black kids, report suggests

By MIKE STOBBE firm the rates.
NEW YORK (AP) — For the But there are good rea-
first time, a U.S. survey sons why ADHD may be as
found that black children or more common in black
appear to be more likely kids, he said. Experts have
than white kids to be diag- long believed black kids
nosed with attention deficit were under-diagnosed,
hyperactivity disorder and and that they are at high-
other learning disabilities. er risk of conditions that
Previous studies had found can lead to ADHD, such as
the diagnosis was far more lead poisoning or low birth-
likely in white kids. weight.
It's not known what might ADHD has been called
have driven the change the most commonly diag-
described in Wednesday's nosed mental health dis-
report, said lead author order in U.S. children, with
Benjamin Zablotsky of the more than 6 million kids
Centers for Disease Control diagnosed. The condition
and Prevention. makes it hard for children
In past studies that found to pay attention and con-
higher rates of ADHD di- trol impulsive behaviors. It's
agnoses in white kids, re- often treated with drugs,
searchers hypothesized behavioral therapy, or
there were racial differenc- both.
es in access to health pro- This Nov. 19, 2013 file photo shows a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logo at the agen- Children living in poor fami-
fessionals or perhaps racial cy's federal headquarters in Atlanta. lies were more likely to be
differences in attitudes that Associated Press diagnosed with ADHD or
make white parents more other learning disabilities
likely to seek an ADHD di- 17. About 17% of black learning disabilities" but by conditions other than than kids in affluent house-
agnosis than black parents. children had ever been di- didn't define what they ADHD, Zablotsky said. holds, the new CDC report
The new study is a based agnosed, compared with might be. Some examples Paul Morgan, a Penn State found.
on three years of data — about 15% of white kids might include dyslexia or University researcher, not- The children of parents with
2016 through 2018 — from and about 12% of Hispanic reading comprehension ed the CDC report is based less than a high school ed-
a national in-person sur- kids, the report found. problems. It's not clear to only on what parents said. ucation were similarly more
vey, and represents about The survey question asked what extent the bottom- The researchers didn't look likely to have a diagnosis,
23,000 children ages 3 to about ADHD and "other line statistics are influenced at medical records to con- the report said.q

Hotter climate upped risk of

Australia's record fires by 30%

lihood of Australia’s record- berra, Australia, and a co- puter models allow scien-
setting fire season by com- author of the study. tists to pinpoint the degree
paring high-resolution com- “Climate change is now to which an altered climate
puter models of the conti- part of Australia’s land- influences the chances of
nent facing varying levels scape – extreme heat individual extreme wildfires,
of climate change. is clearly influenced by floods, droughts and heat-
The scientists took into ac- human-caused climate waves. Technology Review
This satellite image provided by NASA on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020
shows wildfires in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. count differences in cli- change, which can influ- magazine – published by
Associated Press mate conditions in about ence fire conditions,” she the Massachusetts Institute
1900 compared to current said. of Technology – recently
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cli- World Weather Attribution conditions — tabulating Australia’s 2019-2020 wild- named climate change
mate change raised the group. both measured and ob- fire season burned a record attribution models as one
chances of Australia’s ex- Scientists from Australia, Eu- served changes in tem- 19 million hectares (47 mil- of the “Breakthrough Tech-
treme fire season by at rope and North America perature, drought and fire lion acres), displacing thou- nologies” of 2020.
least 30%, according to a calculated just how much intensity. sands of people and killing “It’s one thing to paint a
study released Wednesday human-caused global Last year was both the at least 34. The fires also broad statistical picture
by climate scientists at the warming elevated the like- hottest and driest year on razed rare habitats and of how climate change
record in Australia since killed more than a billion is loading the dice for ex-
measurements began a animals, say researchers. treme weather events. But
century ago. A decade ago, while sci- it’s quite another to re-
“There is evidence that entists often discussed ally dig into the climate
Australian fire seasons have how climate change in- data and specific num-
lengthened and become creased the likelihood of bers around an individual
more intense — and ex- extreme weather patterns, disaster, like the Australian
treme temperatures have researchers were still reluc- wildfires,” said Kim Cobb,
played a role in this,” said tant to explicitly connect a climate scientist at the
Sophie Lewis, a climate sci- any specific weather event Georgia Institute of Tech-
entist at the University of with climate change. nology in Atlanta, who was
New South Wales in Can- Today, more precise com- not involved in the study.q