ADHD and Obesity

Headlines: ADHD and Obesity

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder may be at higher risk for childhood obesity.

New findings published in Pediatrics detail a review of 11 years of electronic health record data concerning nearly 164,000 boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 18.

The investigators observed that more than 8% of the kids were diagnosed with ADHD during the study time frame Body mass index (or BMI) patterns revealed that ADHD children left entirely untreated or simply not prescribed stimulant medications had faster increases in BMI in early childhood than kids without ADHD.

By contrast, ADHD children who were treated with stimulants initially showed slower BMI growth. But as they aged into adolescence, ADHD kids treated with stimulants experienced a notable weight spike.

The study team concluded that the stimulant treatment and BMI rebound effect