Body mass index of children from the United Kingdom diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the present study was to ascertain the Body Mass Index (BMI) (kg m(-2)) derived from parental reports of height (metres) and weight (kilograms) of a pilot sample of boys born and resident in the UK diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD).


METHODS
Analysis of parental reporting of height and weight measurements in boys (n=50) diagnosed with PDD and comparison with age and sex-matched reference populations.


RESULTS
The majority of patients were above the 50th percentile for height (70%), weight (74%) and BMI (80%) with 21% exceeding cut-off points for overweight and 10% for clinical obesity. There were no significant differences (P < 0.05) found between PDD subgroups for any of the measures.


CONCLUSIONS
Further studies are required to validate findings of skewed height, weight and BMI data in PDD.
Whiteley
Paul
P
Autism Research Unit, University of Sunderland, UK. paul.whiteley@sunderland.ac.uk
Dodou
Kalliopi
K
Todd
Lynda
L
Shattock
Paul
P
D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D006113:United Kingdom