The prevalence and risk factors for overweight/obesity among Turkish children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Abstract Objective To compare the prevalence and correlates of overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) between autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to investigate which variables significantly contribute to OW/OB in each group. Methods Of 267 cases (96 with ASD, 80 with ID, and 91 with ADHD) aged 2–18 years, body mass index (BMI) percentiles, birth weight, food reward usage, weekly screen and physical activity time, and psychotropics used were recorded. Results OB (OB + OW) prevalence was 22.9 % (36.4 %) in ASD; 22.5 % (40 %) in ID; and 17.6 % (27.5 %) in ADHD. Although the ADHD group had the highest rate of stimulant usage (χ2 = 69.605, p  Conclusion OW/OB is prevalent in children with neurodevelopmental disorders regardless of their diagnosis. Our findings showed that food rewards put a higher risk for OW/OB in ASD than administering a psychotropic. It could be better to use other positive reinforcements other than edible ones to prevent OW/OB in these children.