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How Exercise Impacts ADHD

By Doug Jackson, M.Ed.,CSCS

This article will briefly touch on the subject of ADHD in kids, the prescription drugs used to treat it, and the effect of exercise on ADHD.

Now, let me state up front I am not a doctor, however I am a constant student of health. The prescription of this pill or that pill has concerned me for a long time. I've also believed that prescription drugs are often mis-prescribed, over-prescribed, and abused. Essentially we are trained in our society to pop a pill every time we have a problem.

Not only are pills rampant, people also underestimate the dangers of prescription drugs. In a study by Barbara Starfield, 106,000 deaths occur every years due to negative side effects of properly prescribed drugs. This doesn't include the number of deaths caused by mis-prescribed drugs by doctors and errors in fulfillment by pharmacists.

The diagnoses of ADHD in children has skyrocketed in the last ten years. With this fact, three things come to mind.

First, are parents simply doping hyperactive kids up because it's easier quick fix than other alternatives?

Second, if ADHD is a real problem, why has it increased so rapidly in the last decade? What could be occurring in our environment that is drastically increasing hyperactivity and lack of focus in kids? Is it air or water pollution? Toxic substances contained in process foods? Lack of physical exercise that the human body is meant to attain?

Third, do parents and children truly understand the possible side effects, both immediate and long-term that may occur with the ingestion of chemicals designed to alleviate ADHD? For that matter, do most doctors really understand?

Most of the medications used to treat ADHD interact in the same basic ways in the body. Side effects may include irregular heart beats, chest pains, very high blood pressure, blurred vision, liver damage, and growth impairment. In excessive doses, these drugs also can be addictive. Lovely.

Two of the most prescribed medications for ADHD include Ritalin and Strattera. If you get into the biochemistry of actions of these drugs, Ritalin increases dopamine levels. Strattera effects the body's norepinephrine levels.

Well guess what else has the same basic effects on the body with no negative side effects and a whole host of "we shouldn't live without" benefits? That's right...

EXERCISE.

James Perrin, professor of pediatrics at Boston's MassGeneral Hospital for Children states, "You could speculate that one reason for the increasing rates of ADHD is that kids are exercising less."

I will further speculate that when children undergo increased activity that the common complaints from parents and teachers of ADHD children will diminish.

Guess what? A study at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that exercise significantly improved behavior of ADHD children between five and twelve years of age.

Here's a wild thought: Exercise and natural food is natural for the human body. When we don't exercise and eat processed food, we essentially become sick. "Sick" can be a lot of things. Depressed, obese, hypertensive, weak, unconfident, high bad cholesterol, low good cholesterol, low bone density, Type II diabetes, lack of sexual desire, impotence, heart disease, and finally premature death.

Hmmm... proper exercise and diet can highly reduce the risk of all of these.

You know what else? Prescription drugs, depending on the specific drug, can increase the risk of most of these.

I'm not saying there's not a time and place for drug therapy.

But in general...get the kids off the drugs and get them on vigorous exercise and natural foods. It's one of the best gifts a truly loving parent could give them. Even better, do the exercise with them by following the information at www.FamilyFitPlan.com. You get in some quality family bonding. Download the free reports to get started immediately.

About the Author:

Doug Jackson, M.Ed., CSCS, is the author of Fitness Now and Forever and the co-author of Family Fit Plan. He also operates a fitness consulting business in Weston, Florida. To receive his Ten Secrets to your Best Year Ever mini-course, visit www.PersonalFitnessAdvantage.com.