Growth dysregulation and ADHD: an epidemiologic study of children in France

A small literature suggests that ADHD may be associated with dysregulated growth, but this prior work primarily used clinically referred samples, so it faces difficulties of interpretation. The objective of this study is to sample the general French population for ADHD and evaluate if ADHD is associated with dysregulated growth.

Starting with 18 million telephone numbers, 7,912 were randomly called. Among 4,186 eligible families, 1,012 were recruited. The goal was for the final distribution of the sample to match the demographic background of the French population. A telephone interview was administered to all families to diagnose ADHD and assess other psychopathology and functioning variables.

Medication-naïve ADHD was associated with being taller, t(515) = 26.3, p < .001, and heavier, t(518) = 1.8, p = .03, for young children. In contrast, for older children, medication-naïve ADHD participants were shorter and lighter. These results were stronger for weight than height.

Although these data do not cast doubt on the well-documented association of stimulant treatment with delays in growth, they provide some support for the idea that, in the absence of medication exposure, ADHD is associated with dysregulated growth.