Objective: This study examined the growth status and physical development of Brazilian children with autism spectrum disorders from 4 to 15 years of age. Furthermore, it was examined whether variation in growth patterns and weight status was influenced by the use of psychotropic medications.
Methods: One-hundred and twenty children aged 3.6-12.1 years at baseline (average=7.2 years, SD=2.3 years) diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders were measured on three repeated occasions across a 4-year period. Stature, body mass, and body mass index were considered. Bayesian multilevel modeling was used to describe the individual growth patterns.
Results: Growth in stature was comparable to the age-specific 50th percentile for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reference data until approximately 8 years, but a substantial decrease in growth rate was observed thereafter, reaching the age-specific 5th percentile at 15 years of age. Both body mass and body mass index values were, on average, higher than both the Brazilian and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention age-specific 95th percentile reference until 8 years, but below the 50th specific-age percentile at the age of 15 years.
Conclusions: Brazilian boys with autism spectrum disorders between 4 and 15 years appear to have impaired growth in stature after 8-9 years of age, likely impacting pubertal growth. A high prevalence of overweight and obesity was observed in early childhood, although a trend of substantial decrease in body mass and body mass index was apparent when children with autism spectrum disorders entered the years of pubertal development.
Keywords: Anthropometry; Antropometria; Autism; Autismo; Bayesian multilevel modeling; Medicação psicotrópica; Mental health; Modelo multinível bayesiano; Obesidade; Obesity; Psychotropic medication; Saúde mental.
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