Characteristics and Factors Associated with Obesity and Thinness among Children with Developmental Disorders

The excessive prevalence of obesity has been a growing concern worldwide in children as well as adults. This unhealthy tendency has not shown signs of improvement, but rather, it is steadily getting worse. It is well-known that childhood obesity has a great risk of progression into adult obesity. And obesity in childhood or adolescence has been recognized to be a risk factor for the onset of lifestyle-related diseases, not only in healthy children, but also in children with developmental disorders.

This study was conducted to examine the characteristics of obesity and thinness as assessed by the body fat percentage among children with developmental disorders during certain growth periods and was also designed to investigate those factors associated with obesity and thinness based on a lifestyle and behavioral questionnaire.

The subjects included 260 children (207 males and 53 females) from 5 to 18 years old with developmental disorders. Each subject’s height was measured by a trained nurse. Their body weights and body fat percentages were measured by employing a dual frequency body composition analyzer (DC-320; Tanita, Tokyo, Japan). The parents were asked about the daily lives of the children with developmental disorders by using a 35-item questionnaire. While employing a regression analysis with the body fat percentage as a dependent variable, the significance of the relationship between the body fat percentage and each item was examined after it was adjusted for sex and age.

The results of the study showed that a decrease in thinness and increase in obesity with ageing exhibited more noticeable trends among those children with mental retardation. The factors associated with obesity in children with developmental disorders were characterized by the dietary content, eating behaviors, and food preferences particular to such children, as well as low physical activity and a family history of obesity.

In conclusion, the results of this study suggested the importance of continuous guidance along with family participation in order to improve obesity among children with developmental disorders, while focusing on the characteristics of certain growth periods. Besides, adequate and applicable procedures for health guidance on the improvement of obesity in children with developmental disorders will be further explored.

Article by Keiko Kasagi, et al, from Prefectural University of Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan.

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