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Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe the total of prescribed drugs dispensed to children and adolescents aged 0-17 years in Norway. Material and methods: Information about all the prescription drugs prescribed to children and adolescents 0-17 years in the period 2005-2009 were obtained from the Norwegian Prescription Database. The age group was 1 074018 individuals in 2009 and accounted for 22% of the Norwegian population. Results: In 2009, 512 207 children 0-17 years (47.7%) were dispensed prescribed drugs at least once during 2009. The proportion was highest among one-and two-year-olds, except for 16-17 year olds girls because of use of pills for anticonception. During the 5-year period, the proportion of children and young people who filled prescriptions increased from 44.3% (2005), 45.5% (2006), 44.7% (2007), 45.6% (2008) and to 47.7% in 2009. Penicillin is the substance that was prescribed to most Norwegian children aged 0-17 years. Nearly 9% of all children were dispensed penicillin while oseltamivir was dispensed to 6.5% of the child-ren aged 0-17 years in 2009. A total of 4.5% were given chloramphenicol eye drops and 3.0% fucidin eye drops. Eight out of twenty of the most prescribed substances are drugs prescribed for asthma, allergy, cough and colds. Conclusion: Half of the Norwegian children have been dispensed one prescribed drug at least once during one year. The proportion is highest among the youngest children. The most commonly prescribed drugs to Norwegian children reflect the typical diagnoses seen in children in general practice.

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