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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. ADHD
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1332598

Neurodevelopmental disorders in children seeking obesity treatmentassociations with intellectual ability and psychiatric conditions

Provisionally accepted
Maria Dellenmark Blom Maria Dellenmark Blom 1*Kajsa Järvholm Kajsa Järvholm 2,3Lovisa Sjögren Lovisa Sjögren 1,4Anna Levinsson Anna Levinsson 1,5Jovanna Dahlgren Jovanna Dahlgren 1
  • 1 Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • 2 Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
  • 3 Childhood Obesity Unit, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
  • 4 Department of Pediatrics, Hallands Hospital Halmstad, Halmstad, Sweden
  • 5 Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), psychiatric comorbidity and cognitive deficits are commonly seen in children with obesity; however, little is known about the overlap between these conditions. This study aimed to examine the undiagnosed and diagnosed frequency of NDDs and explore its association with psychiatric conditions and general intellectual ability (IQ) in children presenting for obesity treatment. Methods: In this observational study at two outpatient obesity clinics during 2018-2019, 80 children (8-17 years) were consecutively recruited, and screened for NDD unless already diagnosed with an NDD. A psychiatric unit evaluated children who screened positive for NDD. Diagnoses and clinical background factors were collected from medical records. IQ was assessed with the Weschler Intelligence Scales and internalizing symptoms were assessed using the Beck Youth Inventories. Associations between background factors, IQ and internalizing symptoms were explored in relation to having an NDD or not.We found that 47/80 children had at least one NDD. Children with a diagnosed NDD before study start (n = 30) had significantly more comorbidities than children diagnosed after the study screening (n = 17) (P = .01). Greater cognitive impairment was seen in children with NDD compared with children without an NDD (P = .01). Also, 33/73 participants self-reported substantial internalizing symptoms. At follow-up, 21/79 participants, in addition to NDD, had been diagnosed with another psychiatric disorder. Ten of these were children that had been diagnosed with an NDD before study start.The overlap between NDD, cognitive deficits and psychiatric conditions in children with obesity is an important consideration for clinical practice. Screening for these conditions may be necessary when providing targeted interventions.

    Keywords: Obesity, Neurodevelopmental disorders, Intellectual ability, Cognition, Depression, Anxiety, psychiatric disorders

    Received: 03 Nov 2023; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Dellenmark Blom, Järvholm, Sjögren, Levinsson and Dahlgren. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Maria Dellenmark Blom, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

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