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Anthropometric status of preschoolers and elementary school children with ADHD: preliminary results from the EPINED study

Pediatric Research volume 94, pages 1570–1578 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

A current area of research interest is the association between ADHD and weight status. This paper aimed to describe the anthropometric status of school children with ADHD, considering age and clinical presentation (inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, or combined), compared with control children.

Methods

Participants came from the “Epidemiological Research Project on Neurodevelopmental Disorders” and consisted of 198 preschoolers (41 with ADHD) and 389 elementary school children (163 with ADHD). ADHD was diagnosed using DSM-5 criteria. Anthropometric measurements were taken at various anatomical points, and height, weight, and body composition were also measured.

Results

In preschoolers, an association was found between hyperactive-impulsive ADHD and greater height and lower waist-to-height ratio. In elementary school children, regardless of the medication, combined ADHD was associated with smaller head, hip, arm, and thigh circumferences and lower weight, height, and BMI. A total of 19.7% of them were underweight. In contrast, children with inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive presentations presented the highest percentage of overweight/obesity (56%).

Conclusion

The anthropometric status of the school children with ADHD showed differences in terms of age and presentation. Preschoolers with hyperactive-impulsive ADHD are taller, and elementary school children with combined ADHD are shorter and smaller than their age-matched control peers.

Impact

  • The anthropometric status of the school children with ADHD showed differences in terms of age and presentation.

  • Preschoolers with hyperactive-impulsive ADHD are taller than their control peers.

  • Elementary school children with combined ADHD, regardless of the pharmacological treatment, are shorter and smaller than their control peers.

  • Medication may anthropometrically affect the height of children with inattentive presentation.

  • Anthropometric and dietary monitoring should be recommended to parents of children with ADHD, with and without medication.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2: Association between ADHD presentations [control (ref)] and significant anthropometric data in elementary school children.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s Martí Franqués Grant 2020PMF-PIPF-36 and our colleagues Lucía Iglesias-Vázquez and Andrés Díaz-López for their invaluable help. The authors are grateful to the URV English Service for reviewing the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under Grant PSI2015–64837-P and RTI2018–097124-B-I00.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutrition and Mental Health Research Group (NUTRISAM), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain

    Meritxell Rojo-Marticella, Victoria Arija, Paula Morales-Hidalgo, Patricia Esteban-Figuerola, Núria Voltas-Moreso & Josefa Canals-Sans

  2. Department of Psychology, Research Centre for Behavioral Assessment (CRAMC), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain

    Meritxell Rojo-Marticella, Paula Morales-Hidalgo, Patricia Esteban-Figuerola, Núria Voltas-Moreso & Josefa Canals-Sans

  3. Pere Virgili Institute for Health Research (IISPV), Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Reus, Spain

    Meritxell Rojo-Marticella, Victoria Arija, Paula Morales-Hidalgo, Patricia Esteban-Figuerola, Núria Voltas-Moreso & Josefa Canals-Sans

  4. Psychology and Education Studies, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Barcelona, Spain

    Paula Morales-Hidalgo

  5. Serra Hunter Fellow, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain

    Núria Voltas-Moreso

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  1. Meritxell Rojo-Marticella
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Contributions

Conceptualization: J.C.-S. and V.A.; methodology: J.C.-S. and V.A.; formal analysis: M.R.-M. and V.A.; investigation: P.M.-H., P.E.-F., N.V.-M., and J.C.-S.; data curation: M.R.-M., P.M.-H., N.V.-M., P.E.-F., and J.C.-S.; writing—original draft preparation: M.R.-M., V.A., and J.C.-S.; writing—review and editing: M.R.-M., V.A., P.M.-H, N.V.-M., and J.C.-S.; funding acquisition: J.C.-S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Josefa Canals-Sans.

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Rojo-Marticella, M., Arija, V., Morales-Hidalgo, P. et al. Anthropometric status of preschoolers and elementary school children with ADHD: preliminary results from the EPINED study. Pediatr Res 94, 1570–1578 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-023-02671-6

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