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Objectives: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common neurobehavioral problems afşicting children between 6 and 17 years of age; its prevalence in the United States is believed to range from 2% to 18% in this age group. ADHD is considered to be a heritable, chronic, neurobehavioral disorder that is characterized by hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. In children with ADHD appear some differences in physique, growth and development. There is not enough evidence in the scientific literature to establish clear conclusions on pulmonary functions, resting metabolic rate and body composition in children with ADHD. The aim of this study was to compare pulmonary functions, resting metabolic rate (RMR), and body composition parameters in patients with ADHD and healthy controls.
Methods: The study involved eighty (n=80) children between the ages of 8 and 12 (mean age 9.6 years). The ADHD group included respectively 30 boys and 10 girls, while the control group comprised 40 age and gender-matched children without any other physical or chronic mental diseases. In this cross-sectional study, RMR was measured by indirect calorimeter. Anthropomorphic measurements including BMI, neck, shoulder, chest, waist, hip and abdomen circumferences were measured for all of the participants. Parents completed Conners’ Parent Rating Scale and The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) for their children; teachers completed Conners’ Teacher Rating Scale and all of the participants were administered to PedsQL for themselves. Differences were considered significant if the p values were less than 0.05.
Results: There were no significant differences between groups for socio-demographical features (age, BMI, age and education level of parents, number of sibling; p>0.05). ADHD group has higher scores on Conners’ Rating Scales compared with Control group (p<0.05). Additionally it was found that quality of life of ADHD group is worse than control group (p<0.05). When the ADHD and Control groups were compared with respect to resting metabolic rate, and body composition parameters there were no significant differences abdomen circumference, waist/hip ratio and resting metabolic rate between the groups (p>0.05).
Conclusions: Functional neuroimaging and electro-physiologic studies revealed biological differences between children with and without ADHD, and together with the heritable nature and the strong genetic background. To our knowledge, this is the first study in our country, which has investigated a possible association between ADHD, RMR and body composition. The comparison of ADHD (newly diagnosed) and healthy control groups included in the current study show similar RMR and body composition parameters. Furthermore, we suggest long-term studies, which are needed to test how the investigated parameters change over the span of life in subjects with ADHD.