WHITE HOUSE LOOKS AT CHILDREN, DRUGS.(MAIN)

Byline: ROBERT PEAR New York Times

WASHINGTON -- The White House will announce a major effort on Monday to reverse a sharp increase in the number of preschool children using Ritalin, Prozac and other powerful psychiatric drugs, administration officials said Sunday.

As part of the initiative, they said, the government will inform parents and teachers about the risks of such drugs, the Food and Drug Administration will develop new drug labels, the National Institutes of Health will begin a huge nationwide study of Ritalin use in children under age 6, and the White House will hold a conference this fall on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in very …