The NHS prescribed nearly 60,000 sleeping tablets to children in just one month this year, shows research.
The number of children and young people on melatonin tablets has rocketed 170 per cent since April 2015.
Guidance for recommending melatonin from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is much stricter for children than adults.
It should only be given for short-term courses under specialist supervision, but the numbers that it has been dished out in have left some experts reportedly concerned it might be being overused.
The analysis of NHS data by The Pharmaceutical Journal showed 56,002 youngsters under the age of 17 were given the tablets in April this year.
This is compared to just 20,881 in April 2015 - a massive spike of 168 per cent.
This year marked the first time the number of youngsters prescribed melatonin hit more than 60,000.
Vicki Beevers, chief executive and founder of The Sleep Charity, described the figures as “disappointing”, according to the journal.
She also pointed out that sleep issues were on the rise across all age groups, with the Covid pandemic playing a significant role.
Steve Tomlin, director of the Children’s Medicines Centre and associate chief pharmacist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, was reported as saying it was ‘far too easy’ for children to stick on the drug once they first used it because it made a difference.
The rise in figures may also be attributed to the introduction of two new treatments for use in children.
Slenyto was approved for patients aged two to 18 with autism in September 2018, and Afaflex was also approved for insomnia patients aged six to 17-years-old with ADHD.
Another specialist clinical pharmacist described the figures are ‘a bit shocking’ and suggested that because melatonin is produced naturally, doctors are more inclined to prescribe it.
