Young children are increasingly being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder​ (ADHD) and receiving medication before they even start school, a Stanford Medicine-led study shows. Dr. Yair Bannett joins CBS News with more.

A recent study led by Dr. Yair Bannett from Stanford Medicine Children's Health has found that it is increasingly common for children to be diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed medication before starting school. While most ADHD diagnoses in the United States occur during elementary school years, the study focused on preschool-aged children, where 1% to 2% receive a diagnosis.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends behavioral therapy as the first line of treatment for young children with ADHD. However, the study observed that medication is often prescribed soon after diagnosis, potentially due to limited access to behavioral therapies. The researchers note that their study did not determine the exact reasons for early prescriptions, but access to non-medication treatments appears to be a significant factor.

Should children get ADHD medication immediately after diagnosis?

In Health Watch now, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, more commonly known as ADHD, is estimated to affect 10% of children here in the United States. But a new study shows that it's growing increasingly common for children to be diagnosed and prescribed medication before they even begin school. Let's bring in the author of that study, developmental behavioral pediatrician at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, Dr. Yair Bannett, I should say, for more on this. Dr. Bannett, thanks so much for joining us. I think this study is getting a lot of people's attention. First and foremost, how early are you seeing children diagnosed with ADHD, and has that changed in recent years? Well, first, thank you for having me. And for your question of ADHD diagnosis, I would say that we know, as you said, that 8% to 10% of children in the United States are diagnosed with ADHD, and most of them are diagnosed in the elementary school age period. But our study focused on preschool age children, so we're talking about four and five years old. And in that age range, we're talking about 1% to 2% of children who do get a diagnosis of ADHD. There has been a slight rise in the prevalence, but I would say for this younger age group, that prevalence has been pretty steady. Now, Dr. Bannett, the American Academy of Pediatrics, it's recommending behavioral therapy as a first line of treatment. So why is it? I think that so many pediatricians prescribe medication upon diagnosis. What did your study find behind that? So that's an excellent question. I want to first start by saying our study cannot give a good answer to the why, because our study looked at medical records, and we focused on the time from the initial documentation of a diagnosis until when the prescription is given. And so we can't, we weren't able to look exactly at the reasons behind these early prescriptions. And that's going to be in our next study, where we delve deeper into the medical record and look further. But I can answer this question by talking with pediatricians, and also by a previous study we've done, where we found that probably a big reason is related to a problem of access to behavioral treatment approaches. So a lot of times, I think pediatricians or families feel like they don't know where to go to to learn these behavioral approaches. And so medication sometimes is given earlier than we would want. Dr. Bannett, we really appreciate you joining us and for your time on this study. Thank you.

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