학령기 아동의 주의력결핍-과잉행동장애와 식행동과의 관계

Relationship of Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder and Eating Behavior in Elementary School children

This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of elementary student with ADHD (Attention Deficit - Hyperactivity Disorder) in rural area of Korea and to analyze the relation to dietary habits and physical growth statues. The subjects were 109 students (boy 53. girl 56) from 13 elementary school located in H gun. Jeollanamdo. Body weight and height were measured. The growth statues of students were estimated by percentile of growth chart from Korean adolescents. The diagnosis of ADHD and dietary behavior were conducted using DSM-Ⅳ diagnostic questionnaire and self diagnostic dietary habit questionnaire, respectively. Data were analyzed by the SPSS program. Five students (4.6%) were defined as conclusive ADHD and forty students (36.7%) were detected having ADHD tendency. The students with normal growth statues were lower in students with conclusive/tendency ADHD compared to other students. However there was not statistical significance. Overall dietary behavior score was not significantly different between students with conclusive/tendency ADHD and normal students. However dietary habits score as follows, eating evenly with meal, eating fruits over one times a day and eating sea weed over one times a day were significantly lower in students with conclusive/tendency ADHD then normal students. These results suggested that the prevalence of ADHD in elementary students in rural area of Korea was similar to western country. The dietary habits were related to ADHD and it’s influenced to physical growth statues of the students.