


Why so many children in America have ADHD
Not for the reasons espoused by Robert F. Kennedy junior
Few things agitate Robert F. Kennedy junior, America’s new health secretary, more than the rate of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among American children. And for good reason: one in nine children aged 3-17 years has been diagnosed with ADHD, two to three times the rate in other Western countries. On February 13th, Mr Kennedy’s first day in office, President Donald Trump put him in charge of a special commission tasked with working out, in the next 100 days, why so many American children have ADHD and other chronic conditions.
Explore more
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Inattentive medicine”

Donald Trump’s foreign-aid cuts threaten his rural voters
The teardown of USAID threatens a programme that benefits farmers

In Texas, vaccine-choice activists are ascendant
Amid a measles outbreak they are lobbying for more “medical freedom”

DOGE attacks a bastion of Republican internationalism
Elon Musk has joined a war of ideas under the guise of a budget fight
For Donald Trump, the resignations are the point
The more government lawyers who quit over their own scruples, the better for him
Is Elon Musk’s war on fraud just cover for a power grab?
America’s government has a big problem, but DOGE’s approach is unlikely to fix it
So far, mass deportation has been more rhetoric than reality
A raid in New Jersey highlights the barriers Donald Trump faces