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Association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and obesity and hypertension in early adulthood: a population-based study

International Journal of Obesity volume 35, pages 852–862 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To examine the associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, obesity and hypertension in young adults in a large population-based cohort.

Design, Setting and Participants:

The study population consisted of 15 197 respondents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally representative sample of adolescents followed from 1995 to 2009 in the United States. Multinomial logistic and logistic models examined the odds of overweight, obesity and hypertension in adulthood in relation to retrospectively reported ADHD symptoms. Latent curve modeling was used to assess the association between symptoms and naturally occurring changes in body mass index (BMI) from adolescence to adulthood.

Results:

Linear association was identified between the number of inattentive (IN) and hyperactive/impulsive (HI) symptoms and waist circumference, BMI, diastolic blood pressure and systolic blood pressure (all P-values for trend <0.05). Controlling for demographic variables, physical activity, alcohol use, smoking and depressive symptoms, those with three or more HI or IN symptoms had the highest odds of obesity (HI 3+, odds ratio (OR)=1.50, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.22−2.83; IN 3+, OR=1.21, 95% CI=1.02−1.44) compared with those with no HI or IN symptoms. HI symptoms at the 3+ level were significantly associated with a higher OR of hypertension (HI 3+, OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.01−1.51; HI continuous, OR=1.04, 95% CI=1.00−1.09), but associations were nonsignificant when models were adjusted for BMI. Latent growth modeling results indicated that compared with those reporting no HI or IN symptoms, those reporting 3 or more symptoms had higher initial levels of BMI during adolescence. Only HI symptoms were associated with change in BMI.

Conclusion:

Self-reported ADHD symptoms were associated with adult BMI and change in BMI from adolescence to adulthood, providing further evidence of a link between ADHD symptoms and obesity.

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Acknowledgements

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J Richard Udry, Peter S Bearman and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by Grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. We acknowledge Ronald R Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from Grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. Support to complete this study was funded in part by the following grants from NIH: NCI 1K07CA124905 awarded to BFF; R01 DA024838 awarded to FJM; K24 DA023464 awarded to SHK. This research was supported in part by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Grant P30 DA023026. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIDA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    B F Fuemmeler & T Østbye

  2. Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    C Yang

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    F J McClernon & S H Kollins

  4. Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore

    T Østbye

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  1. B F Fuemmeler
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Correspondence to B F Fuemmeler.

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Competing interests

Dr Fuemmeler has received funding from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute. Dr Kollins has received consulting fees and/or research support from the following commercial sources: Addrenex/Shionogi Pharmaceuticals, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Supernus Pharmaceuticals. Dr Kollins has also received consulting fees and/or research support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr Østbye has received consulting fees from Eli Lilly and Astra/Zeneca. Drs Østbye, McClernon and Yang have received research support from the National Institutes of Health.

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Fuemmeler, B., Østbye, T., Yang, C. et al. Association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and obesity and hypertension in early adulthood: a population-based study. Int J Obes 35, 852–862 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.214

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