Boys with hyperactivity disorder reduce attention and are prone to obesity

(Boys and girls) - Boys with ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) seem to be more prone to obesity as adults.

>>>New method of diagnosing ADHD in children

- Men who have had ADHD usually weigh about 19 pounds on average, heavier than those who have never had it.

- 41% of people with ADHD involved in the study were obese, compared to 22% of those without the disease.

- Maybe because people have impulsive ADHD and because they tend to spend more time watching TV.

It seems that boys with ADHD will grow up and become more obese adults than those who do not have it, a study said.

Researchers surveyed two 41-year-old male groups and found that people who had ADHD were about 19 pounds more on average than those who never had the disease.

'Now there is enough research to show the connection between these two disorders,' said Dr. Sherry Pagoto, who studied ADHD and obesity at the University of Massachusetts.

Data for these new studies came from 207 white boys with ADHD in the US, who were transferred to a research hospital when they were about 8 years old and followed after these children grew up. .

Ten years later, another research group of teenage boys who did not suffer from ADHD, similar to the early participating boys, were added to the study.

Over time, they were asked to report weight when 41 years old, 111 men in each group still participated in the study.

Men who have had ADHD reported that their average weight was about 213 pounds and 41% of them were obese.

Meanwhile, men without ADHD weighed an average of 194 pounds, and 22% of them were obese, Dr. Xavier Castellanos from the Children's Research Center at Langone NYU Medical Center in New York for know.

'As we learn more about brain regions that may be associated with obesity, these areas coincide with brain regions associated with ADHD' . Dr. Castellanos told Reuters Health magazine. 'The reward system' seems to be related to both conditions'.

He explained: 'There are speculations that obesity is at least partly reflecting some impulsiveness, poor planning and difficulty in making choices that are often associated with ADHD.'

Dr. Pagoto, who is not involved in this new study, agrees that young people with this disorder may be more impulsive when it comes to choosing their food, and may also spend a lot of time. more time in front of the television screen than the others.

'Parents of children with ADHD need to pay special attention to children's weight gain over time as we know that these children are at high risk of obesity , ' Dr. Pagoto said.

If those children are at high risk of obesity, there are other risks, such as being able to get type 2 diabetes, she added.

Contrary to the team's hypothesis, it was found that men who did not have symptoms of ADHD as a child were especially likely to be obese.

Dr. Pagoto agrees, the results are surprising and thinks that the study is simply too small to make a reliable difference in adults who have had ADHD.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in ten children and teenagers in the US are diagnosed with ADHD. In which, the number of boys diagnosed is 2 times higher than the number of girls.

Dr. Castellanos suggests that parents of children with ADHD pay attention to control their children, to ensure they are fully exercised, and to help them cut down on sugary drinks, foods Contains many other calories.