Prevalence of obesity in students with specific learning disorder in a metropolitan city of India

Abstract

Background: Obesity is common in urban school children. Learning disability (LD) prevalence is also growing, primarily in cities. Objective: The objective of this study is to find the prevalence of obesity in students with specific LD (SLD). Materials and Methods: This observational cross-sectional study carried out at a tertiary care center attached to a medical college in Maharashtra, after obtaining permission from the institutional ethics committee. Consecutive 150 students with SLD between the ages of 8 and 18 years were studied over 18 months. Obesity was classified as per body mass index. Descriptive statistics and subgroup analysis were done by unpaired t-test. Results: Prevalence of obesity in students with SLD was 22.7% without gender
predisposition and family history correlation. Of total students with SLD, 44 (29.3%) had attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) without any association with the obesity. Conclusions: Family history, ADHD, gender, other medical conditions, and drug history have no correlation with regard to obesity in SLD. There is a further requirement of research with large population control size.