BMI Changes in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Before and After Treatment with Methylphenidate

Abstract

Objectives: We aimed to assess BMI changes in children and adolescents with Aatention deficit hyperactivity disorder before and after treatment with methylphenidate. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study on 90 adolescents with a diagnosis of ADHD. Clinicians measured height by a tape meter, weight by the Seca scale and BMI, was calculated. Spearman’s correlation test was used to determine the correlation between age and BMI. The level of statistical significance was established with at least 0.05 in SPSS v21. Results: Results showed that 65 patients (72.2%) were boys. Most of the participants (41) were aged between 7 - 11 years. Most of them (58 patients) had combined type of disorder. A total of 22 (24.4%) attention deficit and 10 (11.1%) hyperactive type of disorder were noted.Mean of height, weigth, and BMI in participants were significantly higher after 1 year of treatment with methylphenidate. Conclusions: ADHD could be indicated as a risk factor for overweight and obesity in Iranian adolescents; thus, clinicians should consider it from the beginning of the diagnosis of ADHD.