Psychiatr News August 1, 2008
Volume 43, Number 15, page 32
© 2008 American Psychiatric Association
Weight Variance Linked to Medication in Youth With ADHD
Jun Yan
Data suggest that risk of being overweight is associated with ADHD, and
a risk of being underweight is associated with stimulant treatment.
Children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) who are not taking medications have a slightly higher likelihood of
being overweight; however, those taking ADHD medications have a higher
likelihood of being underweight, according to a population study published in
the July Pediatrics.
The authors, Molly Waring, M.A., and Kate Lapane, Ph.D., of the Department
of Community Health at Brown Medical School, analyzed data from 62,887
individuals aged 5 to 17 who had participated in the 2003-2004 National Survey
of Children's Health, a national survey sponsored by the Maternal and Child
Health Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics in the Department
of Health and Human Services. Information about each child's or teenager's
weight, height, diagnosis of ADHD by a health professional, and whether the
child or teenager was taking medication prescribed for ADHD, was collected
through telephone interview with a parent or guardian in the household.
Underweight was defined in this study as having a body mass index (BMI) at
or below the 5th percentile for the same age group and gender on the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention growth chart. Having a BMI at or above the
95th percentile was considered overweight.
Children and adolescents with ADHD and not taking medications had an odds
ratio of 1.5 for being overweight, compared with those without ADHD. In
contrast, those with ADHD and currently taking medications had an odds ratio
of 1.6 for being underweight. These risk ratios were calculated after
adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and comorbid
depression and anxiety.
In this population sample, 8.8 percent were reported to have had a
diagnosis of ADHD or attention deficit disorder. About 72 percent of these
children and adolescents were currently taking medications.
The findings in this cross-sectional study echo other studies that looked
at the effects of ADHD medications on children's growth and development.
Long-term results from the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children With ADHD
(MTA) study, published in the August 2007 Journal of the American Academy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, have shown that children taking ADHD
medications for three years have lower growth rates in both height and weight
(Psychiatric News, August 17, 2007). A subgroup analysis by James
Swanson, Ph.D., and colleagues found that children with ADHD were on average
of larger size than norms before receiving stimulant treatment, but their
growth slowed after they were put on medication. On average, children who took
stimulants for three years were 2.0 cm shorter in height and 2.7 kg less in
weight than unmedicated children.
The causes for these variances in the growth and development of children
with ADHD remain unknown. Waring and Lapane suggested that the impulsivity and
decreased behavior regulation in untreated ADHD children may contribute to
overeating and poor nutritional habits, while the appetite suppression among
stimulants' side effects may be a reason for underweight in treated children.
The study was limited by its cross-sectional design and
parent/guardian-reported data, the authors acknowledged. Nevertheless, they
recommended that pediatric care providers pay more attention to monitoring the
weight of ADHD patients.
An abstract of "Overweight in Children and Adolescents in
Relation to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Results From a National
Sample" is posted at
<pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/short/122/1/e1>.
An abstract of "Effects of Stimulant Medication on Growth Rates Across 3
Years in the MTA Follow-up" is posted at
<www.jaacap.com/pt/re/jaacap/abstract.00004583-200708000-00012.htm>.
Get information about faster international access.
Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2008
American Psychiatric Association.
All rights reserved.
Home
| Search
| Current Issue
| Past Issues
| Subscribe
| All APPI Journals
| Help
| Contact Us
| 
