Kids with coordination disorder likely to be overweight

Children with a condition known as developmental coordination disorder are at a higher risk of being overweight or obese than other youngsters.

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), affects about one in 20 school-aged children and is characterised by coordination problems, including difficulty with fine and gross motor skills. The condition can interfere with normal activities such as personal care, sports and other types of recreation, along with school skills such as handwriting.

To see the impact of developmental coordination on weight gain among school-going children, researchers studied 1,979 Canadian children from 75 schools in the province of Ontario who were followed from grade 4 through grade 7. The researchers screened the children for DCD and measured their body-mass index (BMI) and waist circumference.

During the follow-up of three years, 111 children (46 boys and 65 girls) were identified with possible developmental coordination disorder. These children had a higher mean BMI and waist circumference at baseline than did those without the disorder. Compared to other children, those diagnosed with possible DCD were three times more likely than typical children to be overweight and at increased risk for obesity. This risk did not diminish over the study period.