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Pediatrics

Mental health disorders in youth with overweight and obesity: does treatment of co-existing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affect outcomes?

International Journal of Obesity volume 48, page 1513 (2024)Cite this article

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We read with interest the analysis of mental disorders among 114,248 attendees of 237 specialized centers for obesity care reported by Galler et al. [1]. The overall prevalence of mental disorders was 3.5%, of whom 42.5% had a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

We noted that those diagnosed with depression, anxiety and eating disorders, had higher baseline rates of severe obesity than those without with mental disorders. However, the prevalence of severe obesity in those with ADHD was actually lower than those with no known mental disorder. They also had a lower baseline BMI z-score.

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Reference

  1. Galler A, Thönnes A, Joas J, Joisten C, Körner A, Reinehr T, et al. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of children, adolescents and young adults with overweight or obesity and mental health disorders. Int J Obes. 2024;48:423–32.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics, Nepean Hospital, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Alison Poulton & Habib Bhurawala

  2. Sydney Medical School Nepean, Discipline of Paediatrics, The University of Sydney, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Alison Poulton & Habib Bhurawala

  3. Brain Mind Centre Nepean, University of Sydney, Penrith, NSW, Australia

    Alison Poulton

  4. University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Habib Bhurawala

Authors
  1. Alison Poulton
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  2. Habib Bhurawala
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Contributions

HB conceived the paper; AP wrote the first draft; both authors agreed the final version.

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Correspondence to Alison Poulton.

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Competing interests

AP discloses personal fees and non-financial support from Shire/Takeda, outside the submitted work; and book royalties from Disruptive Publishing (ADHD Made Simple). HB has no disclosures. This work was unfunded.

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Poulton, A., Bhurawala, H. Mental health disorders in youth with overweight and obesity: does treatment of co-existing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder affect outcomes?. Int J Obes 48, 1513 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-024-01573-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-024-01573-9

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