Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Pediatric Highlight
  • Published:

Overweight/obesity and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder tendency among adolescents in China

International Journal of Obesity volume 31, pages 584–590 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

This study aims to investigate whether there is any association between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) tendency and overweight/obesity among adolescents.

Design:

This study was a population-based health survey utilizing a two-stage random cluster sampling design.

Subjects:

Subjects were recruited from the total population of adolescents who attended high school years 1, 2 and 3 with ages ranging from 13 to 17 years.

Measurements:

Individual body weight and height were measured by medical professionals. Overweight and obesity were determined according to the CDC classification. ADHD tendency was assessed via a structured personal interview using a standardizsed scale.

Results:

In all, 1429 students were recruited with 85 (6.3%) classified overweight and 42 (3.1%) obese with a mean BMI score of 19.1 (s.e.=0.15). For ADHD tendency, the average score was 15.48 (s.e.=0.28) with a median score of 16.0. There was a significant association between ADHD tendency and obesity among these adolescent (t=2.18, P=0.040), after adjusting for the potential confounding factors. However, the association between ADHD tendency and overweight did not reach a significant level.

Conclusion:

ADHD tendency is associated with overweight/obesity among adolescents. Clinician should be aware of the increased risk of ADHD among obese adolescents. ADHD should be assessed and proper treatment should be provided in the management of obese.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. World Health Organisation. The World Health Report: 2002: Reducing Risk and Promoting Health. World Health Organisation: Geneva, 2002.

  2. Caterson I . Obesity part of the metabolic syndrome. Clin Biochem Rev 1997; 18: 11–21.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Dietz W . Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood. Pediatrics 1998; 101: 518–525.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Laufer M, Denhoff E, Riverside R . Hyperkinetic behavior syndrome in children. J Pediatr 1957; 50: 463–474.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Weiss G, Hechtman L . Hyperactive Children Grown Up: ADHD in Childhood, Adolescents, and Adults. Guildford Press: New York, 1993. pp 12–36.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bijur PE, Stewart-Brown S, Butler N . Children behavior and accidental injury in 11 966 preschool children. Am J Dis Child 1986; 140: 487–492.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. DiScala C, Lescohier I, Barthel M, Li G . Injuries to children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Pediatrics 1998; 102: 1415–1421.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Wazana A . Are there injury-prone children? A critical review of the literature. Can J Psychiatry 1997; 42: 602–610.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Davidson LL . Hyperactivity, antisocial behavior, and childhood injury: a critical analysis of the literature. J Dev Behav Pediatr 1987; 8: 335–340.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Barley RA, Guevremont DC, Anastopoulos AD, DuPaul GJ, Shelton TL . Driving-related risks and outcomes of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in adolescents and young adults: a 3- to 5-year follow up survey. Pediatrics 1993; 92: 212–218.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Barley RA, Murphy KR, Kwansnik D . Motor vehicle driving competencies and risks in teen and young adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Pediatrics 1996; 98: 1089–1095.

    Google Scholar 

  12. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 4th edn, DSM-IV. American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC, 1995. pp 78–85.

  13. Altfas JR . Prevalence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder among adults in obesity treatment. BMC Psychiatry 2002; 13: 9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Holtkamp K, Konrad K, Muller B, Heussen N, Herpertz S, Herpertz-Dahlmann B et al. Overweight and obesity in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. In J Obs Relat Metab Disord 2004; 28: 685–689.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Agranat-Meged A, Ditcher C, Stein M, Leibenson L, Stein M, Galili-Weisstub E . Childhood obesity and attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder: A newly described co-morbidity in obese hospitalised children. Int J Eat Disord 2005; 37: 357–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Morrison AS . Screening. In: Rothman KJ, Greenland S (eds) Modern Epidemiology, 2nd edn, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia PA, 1998. pp 499–518.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Kish L . Survey Sampling. John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1965.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Conners CK . Conners' Rating Scales-Revised. Multi-Health System Inc.: New York, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Barbaresi WJ, Katusic SK, Colligan RC, Pankratz VS, Weaver AL, Weber KJ et al. How common is attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder? Incidence in a population-based birth cohort in Rochester, Minn. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2002; 156: 217–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Available on http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/00binaries/bmi-tables.pdf, Access on 09/01/2006.

  21. Janssen I, Katzmarzyk PT, Srinivasan SR, Chen W, Malina RM, Bouchard C et al. Utility of childhood BMI in the prediction of adulthood disease: comparison of national and international references. Obs Res 2005; 13: 1106–1115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Slyper AH . Childhood obesity, adipose tissue distribution, and the pediatric practitioner. Pediatrics 1998; 102: e4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. StataCorp. Stata Statistical Software: Release 8.0. Stata Corporation College: Station, TX, 2003.

  24. Guillaume M, Lissau I . Epidemiology. In: Burniat W, Cole T, Lissau I, Poskitt E (eds). Child and Adolescent Obesity: Causes and Consequences, Prevention, and Management. Cambridge University press: Cambridge, 2002. pp 28–49.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  25. Whitelaw AG . The association of social class and sibling number with skinfold thickness in London schoolboys. Hum Biol 1971; 43: 414–420.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Levitan RD, Masellis M, Lam RW, Muglia P, Basile VS, Jain U et al. Childhood inattention and dysphoria and adult obesity associated with the dopamine D4 receptor gene in overeating women with seasonal affective disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 2004; 29: 179–196.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Fleming JP, Levy LD, Levitan RD . Symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in severely obese women. Eat Weight Disord 2005; 10: e10–e13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Katusic SK, Barbaresi WJ, Colligan RC, Weaver AL, Leibson CL, Jacobsen SJ . Case definition in epidemiologic studies of AD/HD. Ann Epidemiol 2005; 15: 430–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Barlow SE, Dietz WH . Obesity evaluation and treatment: expert committee recommendations. Pediatrics 1998; 102: e29.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Westmead, Sydney, Australia

    L T Lam

  2. School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China

    L Yang

Authors
  1. L T Lam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L T Lam.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lam, L., Yang, L. Overweight/obesity and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder tendency among adolescents in China. Int J Obes 31, 584–590 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803526

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803526

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links