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This week it seems that psychological disorders in children are beginning to be figured out, little by little. A recent study has discovered new causes of autism in children and now we’ve got some exciting news about ADHD. There have been studies in the past that have shown that children with ADHD are more predisposed to obesity than those without the illness, but a recent study performed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore has come to contradict that and reveal that, in fact, it isn’t the illness itself that causes obesity, but the ADHD treatment is linked to obesity.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is one of the most common disorders in children. Unfortunately this disease doesn’t have a cure, but there is medication that can help relieve symptoms.
ADHD Treatment is Linked to Obesity
The studies that have hinted at a link between ADHD and obesity might have been wrong all along. A study published last year in the journal Medical News Today revealed that males who have ADHD growing up are more likely to have a larger BMI during adulthood. It was believed that the culprits were poor impulse control which causes the children to develop poor eating habits and gain weight but this new study says that the ADHD treatment is linked to obesity.
Data from almost 165,000 children from ages 3 to 18 took was used by the study and after careful inspection and assessment it was revealed that children who were left untreated for their ADHD or had been given stimulants had a greater BMI than those who did not have ADHD. But, the children who had ADHD treated with various stimulants had slower BMI growth in childhood, but fast BMI growth in adolescence and adulthood.
Also, the researchers discovered that the earlier the stimulant medicine was given to the child, the stronger the effects were.
To conclude, ADHD treatment is linked to obesity, but further studies are needed to have a definitive view on the matter. This study is just the first step into finding out how stimulants affect the growing bodies of children with ADHD.
