Overweight in Children and Adolescents in Relation to Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

摘要

To the Editor.-The recent study by Waring and Lapane of 62 887 children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder found that those who were not on treatment were more likely to be overweight, defined as a BMI above the 95th percentile, whereas those treated with stimulant medication were more likely to be underweight, defined as a BMI below the 5th percentile.1 This study is impressive in numbers- However, as our own data reflect, the BMI changes seen with stimulant medication are statistically significant but of small magnitude (<1 kg/m~2}. At a cohort level, the effects of stimulant medication are more likely to bring the BMI of the leanest children below the 5th percentile. Lean body habitus is associated with hyperactivity. Hyperactive children tend to be more difficult to manage in the classroom and, therefore, might have been more likely to be on stimulant medication at the time of the survey.