One in nine children uses complementary and alternative medicine to treat chronic pain and other health problems, according to a new survey by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About four in ten adults used some form of complementary and alternative medicine in 2007, the survey showed.

For the first time, the survey included questions regarding children’s use of complementary medicine. Children use complementary and alternative medicine techniques for a variety of health problems, including back pain, colds, anxiety, stress and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to the survey.

The study has revealed that natural, non-vitamin products are the most common alternative therapies used by children. For example, almost 4 percent of kids take a supplement like Echinacea, fish oil, herb pills, prebiotics or probiotics; 3 percent of children see a chiropractor or an osteopath for manipulation and 2.2 percent do deep breathing. For chronic pain, children prefer chiropractic care, acupuncture and massage therapy, the research found. Use of CAM was higher among teenagers (16.4%) than among younger children (10.7%), and white children were more likely to use CAM (12.8%) than black (5.9%) and Hispanic (7.9%) children. As for adults, women were more likely than men to use CAM therapies. Back pain was the most frequent cited reason for using CAM among adults (17 percent), followed by neck pain (6 percent), joint pain (5 percent) and arthritis (3.5 percent).

Complementary medicine, however, is usually used together with conventional treatment, according to the survey.