Nutritional Considerations in the Management of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Essay Example

"Nutritional Considerations in the Management of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder" is a decent example of a paper on child development.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a common developmental disability commonly in childhood-onset of symptoms that usually include trouble remaining focused and paying attention to instructions, struggle controlling one’s behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity). The above indications make it difficult for a child with ADHD to flourish in school, or even get along with other children or adults effectively. This persistent pattern of inattention and hyperactivity or impulsivity is more frequently displayed than it is detected in persons at a rather similar stage of physical and emotional development (Robert, 2009 Volume 46, pg. 33).

In adulthood, ADHD is said to manifests via maladaptation in behavior, work, social life, and marital relationships. Typically, ADHD is characterized by deficits in sustained attention and resistance to distraction. Issues related to anger, difficulties in social relationships, and marital strife have also been reported. ADHD will be characterized by the likelihood of cigarette smoking in childhood and adolescence and also associated with the increased use of substance abuse later in life.

Conservative estimates indicate that 3%-7% of school-age children are affected by ADHD. Other studies estimate the prevalence as high as 7%-12%. Approximately 60%-85% of children diagnosed with ADHD continue to have symptoms in adolescence and 60% experience impairments into and continuing through adulthood.

At present, children under the age of 18 in the United States are 74.2 million. A Sample of only 500 schools going children was taken to determine the level of ADHD intensity in the US. This sample size is so small and cannot be used to represent the rate of children with symptoms of ADHD (Robert, 2009 Volume 46, pg. 53). An efficient and reliable sample size had to be used to determine the levels of ADHD in the United States. The sampling criterion used is thus not satisfactory to place reliance on the research.

Other studies show up 7%-12% of children to have been diagnosed with ADHD symptoms. These variations in similar studies conducted in the same population samples continue to add deviations on where to place reliance. This makes it difficult to administer the right strategy to curb or control the epidemic.

According to Robert (2009 Volume 46, pp 23), deficiency is a result of nutrition concerns. He says that lack of proper feeding at an early age may be a leading course of the deficiency as up to 90% of the brain is developed in the first three years. He estimates that only less than 1% of Americans are capable of receiving the US recommended daily allowance, this is the five food groups that include; fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, and grains, 16% of the population are not able to consume the recommended daily allowance food groups. This is according to a US Department of Agriculture that conducted a survey of 3,300 participants. Out of the total US population, a sample size of 3,300 individuals is too small and cannot represent the interest of the whole community.

In conclusion, the existence of Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is real in the US. On the other hand, to actually establish and set up strategic plans to control the disease.  Reliable research with the right selection criteria of the sampling has to be conducted putting into concerns the right number of sample sizes to interview for reliable outcomes (Robert, 2009 Volume 46, pg. 33). Population sampling can either be done through a random sampling method or Stratified Random Sampling. The main concern is the use of a rightful number representation of the whole population.