A long-term study of preschoolers with Attention Deficit Disorder which will appear in the November Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology, suggests that the benefits of giving small doses Ritalin, a drug normally prescribed only to children over six, outweigh the disadvantages. However critics note side effects found during the study which included slower growth rates and weight loss along with the fact that nearly one in ten of the 303 children in the study dropped out due to side effects such as irritability, insomnia and loss of appetite as reasons to hold out on medicating younger children.
Read more: Study sparks Ritalin debate