Specialized Medicine: The Impact of Cycling on ADHD | Singletracks

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) affects people of all ages worldwide and is one of the leading disorders diagnosed in childhood. The characteristic behaviors of ADHD include varying grades of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. While these behaviors may seem normal for any school-age child, in diagnosed ADHD they usually present to a degree that somehow impairs cognitive, emotional, social, and/or physical function. The average age onset of ADHD is 7 years old, affecting about 11% of American adolescents with boys being 3-4 times more prone than girls. While it remains unclear what causes ADHD, perhaps more troubling is the inability to explain why the number of school-age children diagnosed with this disorder is climbing. The rate of ADHD diagnosis increased from about 3% per year from 1997 to 2006 to 5% per year between 2003 and 2011.

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