14 DAY TRIAL // A recent study co-authored by Dr. F. Xavier Castellanos of the New York University documents the link between childhood ADHD and obesity in adulthood.
More precisely, the specialists who pieced together this research maintain that, as far as they can tell, kids suffering with ADHD [i.e. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] have higher chances of turning into obese adults than youngsters who display no symptoms associated with such disorders.
Following their looking into the health records of several male volunteers, the researchers discovered that those who had been reported as showing signs of ADHD during their childhood years weighed an average 19 pounds (8.6 kilograms) more than others.
Furthermore, it appears that obesity rates were higher amongst former ADHD patients than amongst individuals who had never displayed any symptoms associated with said disorder.
The Inquisitr informs us that, according to the findings of this investigation, the average former ADHD sufferer weighed about 213 pounds (96.6 kilograms) once he reached adulthood.
On the other hand, men who did not use to have ADHD when they were kids weighed an average 194 pounds (87.9 kilograms).
Furthermore, it appears that a whopping 41.4% of former ADHD patients were obese in adulthood, while just 21.6% of the men belonging to the second group met the criteria for obesity.
Interestingly enough, it appears that it was only those who had put their ADHD behind them who had significantly higher chances of weighing more than others and even being obese.
Thus, men who still experienced persistent attention problems seemed to have no major issues with their weight.
“Men with childhood ADHD had significantly higher BMI and obesity rates than men without childhood ADHD. Group differences remained significant after adjustment for socioeconomic status and lifetime mental disorders,” the researchers write in their paper.
“Men with persistent and remitted ADHD did not differ significantly in BMI or obesity rates,” they further explain.
A detailed account of this investigation and its findings was published today in the journal Pediatrics.