The number of children ages two to four years of age who are being prescribed stimulants such as Ritalin, antidepressants, and other psychiatric drugs soared by 50% from 1991 to 1995, according to a study of 200,000 preschoolers that appeared in the February 23, 2000, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The authors of the report, Julie Magno Zito, an assistant professor of pharmacy and medicine at the University of Maryland, and her colleagues, studied the use of psychotropic medications in very young children enrolled in two state Medicaid program and a managed-care organization. The researchers examined data for three psychotropic medication classes: stimulants (methylphenidate, i.e., Ritalin), antidepressants, and neuroleptics (anti-epilepsy drugs). The researchers found that from 1 to 1.5% of all children ages two to four enrolled in those programs were receiving one or the other of those antipsychotic medications. Overwhelmingly, methylphenidate was the leading treatment.

Experts are troubled...