Trends in body mass index among individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders
Trends in body mass index among individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders
Importance: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are increasingly common. Individuals with NDDs face heightened obesity risks, but long-term data on body mass index (BMI) trends over time in this population are lacking.
Objective: To assess secular BMI changes from 2004-2020 among children with NDDs versus those without NDDs.
Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cross-cohort study used data from the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS). Children were screened for neurodevelopmental symptoms using the Autism-Tics, ADHD, and other Comorbidities inventory when they were 9/12 years old, assessed between 2004 and 2020.
Main outcomes and Measures: BMI percentiles were modeled using quantile regression and compared between youth with and without NDDs. Secular changes in BMI percentiles over time between 2004-2020 birth cohorts were evaluated and stratified by NDD subtype.
Results: The cohort included 24,969 Swedish twins (12,681 [51%] boys) born between 1992 and 2010. Of these, 1,103 (4.4%) screened positive for one or more NDDs, including ADHD, ASD or learning disability (LD). Results indicated a greater increase in BMI at the 85th percentile from 2004 to 2020 among youth with NDDs compared with those without NDDs (b=1.67, 95% CI [0.39, 2.90]). The greatest divergence was seen for ASD and LD. Within the latest cohort (2016-2020), the 85th BMI percentile was 1.99 points higher (95% CI 1.08-2.89) among children with NDDs versus non-NDD controls.
Conclusions and Relevance: In this repeated cross-sectional study, children with NDDs had significantly greater rises in BMI at the higher end of the BMI distribution versus peers without NDDs over a 16-year period, highlighting an increasing risk of overweight over time in youth with NDDs compared to those without NDDs. Targeted obesity prevention efforts for this high-risk population are needed.
Neurodevelopmental disorders; body mass index; autism; ADHD; epidemiology
Garcia-Argibay, Miguel
e5a6941e-4dcc-401a-9de4-09557c8856ef
Lundström, Sebastian
c0e400cd-a80a-4cc9-a303-21b49ddd8069
Cortese, Samuele
53d4bf2c-4e0e-4c77-9385-218350560fdb
Larsson, Henrik
4132f7c6-5d52-43a1-be38-d343e67107cf
4 September 2024
Garcia-Argibay, Miguel
e5a6941e-4dcc-401a-9de4-09557c8856ef
Lundström, Sebastian
c0e400cd-a80a-4cc9-a303-21b49ddd8069
Cortese, Samuele
53d4bf2c-4e0e-4c77-9385-218350560fdb
Larsson, Henrik
4132f7c6-5d52-43a1-be38-d343e67107cf
Garcia-Argibay, Miguel, Lundström, Sebastian, Cortese, Samuele and Larsson, Henrik
(2024)
Trends in body mass index among individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.
JAMA Network Open, 7 (9), [e2431543].
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.31543).
Abstract
Importance: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are increasingly common. Individuals with NDDs face heightened obesity risks, but long-term data on body mass index (BMI) trends over time in this population are lacking.
Objective: To assess secular BMI changes from 2004-2020 among children with NDDs versus those without NDDs.
Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cross-cohort study used data from the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS). Children were screened for neurodevelopmental symptoms using the Autism-Tics, ADHD, and other Comorbidities inventory when they were 9/12 years old, assessed between 2004 and 2020.
Main outcomes and Measures: BMI percentiles were modeled using quantile regression and compared between youth with and without NDDs. Secular changes in BMI percentiles over time between 2004-2020 birth cohorts were evaluated and stratified by NDD subtype.
Results: The cohort included 24,969 Swedish twins (12,681 [51%] boys) born between 1992 and 2010. Of these, 1,103 (4.4%) screened positive for one or more NDDs, including ADHD, ASD or learning disability (LD). Results indicated a greater increase in BMI at the 85th percentile from 2004 to 2020 among youth with NDDs compared with those without NDDs (b=1.67, 95% CI [0.39, 2.90]). The greatest divergence was seen for ASD and LD. Within the latest cohort (2016-2020), the 85th BMI percentile was 1.99 points higher (95% CI 1.08-2.89) among children with NDDs versus non-NDD controls.
Conclusions and Relevance: In this repeated cross-sectional study, children with NDDs had significantly greater rises in BMI at the higher end of the BMI distribution versus peers without NDDs over a 16-year period, highlighting an increasing risk of overweight over time in youth with NDDs compared to those without NDDs. Targeted obesity prevention efforts for this high-risk population are needed.
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Trends in Body Mass Index Among Individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Accepted Manuscript
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garciaargibay_2024_oi_240947_1724777561.04318
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Accepted/In Press date: 10 July 2024
Published date: 4 September 2024
Keywords:
Neurodevelopmental disorders; body mass index; autism; ADHD; epidemiology
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 494298
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/494298
ISSN: 2574-3805
PURE UUID: 72b24d2f-2b57-42af-a277-0148db8899a6
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Date deposited: 03 Oct 2024 16:42
Last modified: 04 Oct 2024 02:10
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Contributors
Author:
Miguel Garcia-Argibay
Author:
Sebastian Lundström
Author:
Henrik Larsson
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