Belgian children taking more medication

Figures from the association of health insurance companies reveal that Belgian children are taking more prescription drugs than ever, Flanders News reports. Consumption of medication among children is up by 15 percent in five years, with the biggest increases in antacids, antipsychotics and drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Between 2007 and 2011, the use of 12 of the 15 most commonly used medicines increased, the use of antacids doubled, and the sale of drugs to combat psychoses such as schizophrenia and ADHD rose by a third. Medicines for diabetes and asthma are also being consumed more readily. Paediatricians and child psychiatrists are concerned about the trend towards overmedication. “We are prescribing too much and too easily for children,” said Yvan Vandenplas, professor at the Flemish Free University of Brussels. “Side effects are far too dangerous for this issue to be treated lightly.”