Differences in Body Mass Index (BMI) in Early Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder Compared to Youth with Typical D
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Differences in Body Mass Index (BMI) in Early Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder Compared to Youth with Typical Development Blythe A. Corbett1,2,3 · Rachael A. Muscatello1 · Briana K. Horrocks1 · Mark E. Klemencic1 · Yasas Tanguturi1 Accepted: 6 October 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Adolescence is a time of exceptional physical health juxtaposed against significant psychosocial and weight-related problems. The study included 241, 10-to-13-year-old youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, N = 138) or typical development (TD, N = 103). Standardized exams measured pubertal development, height (HT), weight (WT), heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and Body Mass Index (BMI). Analysis of Variance showed no significant between-group differences for HT, WT, HR, or BP (all p > 0.05). There was a significant difference in BMI-percentile between the groups (F(1,234) = 6.05, p = 0.01). Using hierarchical linear regression, significant predictors of BMI-percentile included diagnosis, pubertal stage and socioeconomic status. Pre-to-early pubescent children with ASD evidence higher BMI percentiles compared to youth with TD suggesting they may be at heightened risk for weight-related health concerns. Keywords Autism · BMI · Puberty · Adolescence The adolescent period presents a health paradox (Dahl 2004; Forbes and Dahl 2010); it is a time of exceptional physical health juxtaposed against a significant rise in mortality rates related to psychosocial (e.g., suicide, eating disorders) and risk-taking (e.g., accidents) behavior (CDC 2010). The significant biobehavioral changes in cognitive, social, emotional and physical development during adolescence coincide with the onset and course of puberty (e.g., Chrousos et al. 1998; Spear 2000; Steinberg 2005). The morphological changes in physical state also give rise to psychological and social adjustments, in part, related to transformation in body image which in turn may contribute to mental health challenges (Graber et al. 1997; Waylen and Wolke 2004). Although the term youth is often synonymous with optimal health, it is becoming associated with weight-related * Blythe A. Corbett [email protected] 1
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Village at Vanderbilt, Suite 2200, 1500 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212, USA
2
Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
3
Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
concerns involving rising rates of overweight and obesity (Hales et al. 2018). According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report from 2015 to 2016, the prevalence of obesity in the United States was 18.4% for children (6–11 years) and 20.6% for adolescents (12–19 years), both of which were higher than younger children (2–5 years, prevalence of 13.9%) (Hales et al. 2018). Adolescents who are overweight have higher rates of physical and medical problems related
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