Did the number of hyperactive people change?

New guidelines recently suggest that children as young as 4 should be treated for ADHD.  I don't disagree that the younger you catch a problem, the better you can address it, but I'm completely against medicating children that young. I'm against medicating anyone unless there is no other solution.

What got me thinking though is all these kids being diagnosed as hyperactive, do they ever get to go outside and run?  My mom, despite being a first grade teacher, never saw me as hyperactive. She used to say I needed to move.  But she'd suggest I go outside and run when I would get too hyper or antsy inside the house. I had a bicycle from age 6 onward and I'd spend a lot of time on it riding around.  Before the bike I had a tricycle. I also had roller skates, the type made out of metal that would go over your shoes and grow with you. In winter I went ice skating a lot, most parks in Quebec have a skating rink in winter, where the baseball or soccer field would be in summer.

Heck, when my mom couldn't send her first grade class to recess outside because of inclement weather, she'd find a way to play a game in the classroom that would get the kids moving. She always felt children shouldn't be expected to sit still 24/7. That children should move around and play outside.

I wonder what percentage of kids who the schools feel they need to medicate for "discipline" issues, would not require it if outside of school they had opportunity to go to the park  and play, or run outside, ride a bike, play a sport, roller skate etc... I bet you most of these kids are always stuck sitting somewhere, whether it's sitting in a car being driven to school - because parents think it's too dangerous for kids to walk or too far, sitting at home watching TV, or playing on computer or playing a game on some form of gaming device. Most probably never get to just to play outside  and move!

Just something to think about.....