A study by Mayo Clinic suggests that females with childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were at a doubled risk of adult obesity, UPI reports.
The researchers studied weight gain in boys and girls who were diagnosed with ADHD as children and found that the risk for obesity in girls was present regardless of stimulant treatment for ADHD.
"Females with ADHD are at risk of developing obesity during adulthood, and stimulant medications used to treat ADHD do not appear to alter that risk," said Dr. Seema Kumar, a pediatrician and reseachers at the Mayo Clinic, in a press release.
The research follows previous studies showing ADHD manifests differently in girls, and is often is misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all.
The study was published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
For the study, the researchers followed 336 boys and girls diagnosed with ADHD as children and 665 children matched by age and sex who did not have ADHD from 1976 to 2010 while they undertook treatment at Mayo clinic.
The researchers said that women diagnosed with ADHD as children, regardless of treatment with a stimulant medication, were more than twice as likely to develop obesity as adults than women not diagnosed.
The association wasn't found for boys, the researchers said.
Previous studies have shown differences in the rate of diagnosis of ADHD between the sexes. A study in 2012 indicated the difference in severity of symptoms between boys and girls at different ages.
"The outcomes for girls are horrendously negative compared to boys," Dr. Ellen Littman, a clinical psychologist, according to Quartz.
"This is not about having trouble with their homework."
According to NH Voice, Dr. Brandon Korman, chief of neuropsychology at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami said,
"While the Mayo research shows an association between ADHD and obesity, it doesn't mean it's bound to happen. Parents and physicians and other caregivers need to be proactive in monitoring eating habits and exercise, and be aware of changes in body composition."
Dr. Korman was not involved with Mayo Clinic study.
