The effects of stimulant medication on the growth of hyperkinetic children
Abstract
This article reviews the literature on possible growth-suppressing effects of stimulant medications in the long-term treatment of children with the hyperkinetic behavior syndrome. The evidence clearly indicates a temporary retardation in the rate of growth in weight and suggests a temporary slowing of growth in stature, but no effect on adult stature or weight. This temporary effect on growth is present during the first few years of treatment and seems related to drug dosage and to the presence or absence of drug holidays. These conclusions related specifically to treatment during the prepubertal period; little is known of the growth-related effects of treatment extending through pubescence.
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Consensus reviews and statements decades apart discounted the clinical significance of the hypothesis of stimulant-related decrease in physical growth rates, based on prevailing views that short-term growth suppression may occur but does not result in long-term effects on ultimate size.
“Consensus reviews and statements decades apart (see NIH Consensus Committee, 1998;Roche et al., 1979) discounted the clinical significance of this hypothesis, based on prevailing views that short-term growth suppression may occur but does not result in longterm effects on ultimate size.”
From Effects of Stimulant Medication on Growth Rates Across 3 Years in the MTA Follow-up (2007) · cites this paper as Roche et al., 1979
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Effects of Stimulant Medication on Growth Rates Across 3 Years in the MTA Follow-up
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“consensus (NIH Consensus Committee, 1998; Roche et al., 1979) that growth suppression either was clinically insignificant (due to a temporary effect of initial treatment with stimulant medication followed by growth rebound) or was an artifact of a characteristic of the clinical condition that resulted in slow growth t…”
BackgroundInfluentialStimulant-Related Reductions of Growth Rates in the PATS
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“Multiple reviews of the literature on this topic are available (see Joshi, 2002; Kramer et al., 2000; Roche et al., 1979; Spencer et al., 1998), so another is not necessary here.”
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“MPH injections were administered using a school week schedule (5/days/week), as this dosing paradigm is a recommended schedule for administration of MPH to eliminate the possibility of MPH to abrogate growth [60,61].”
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“(1976) had been largely discounted in the years since its original publications (Roche et al., 1979; Spencer et al., 1996; see NIH Consensus Conference, 1998), it was not an a priori hypothesis and thus was not specified as a primary question to be addressed by the MTA or even evaluated in the initial analyses and mai…”
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“The injections were administered using a school week (5 days/week) dosing schedule to prevent MPH from impeding normal weight gain and/or growth (Martins et al. 2004; Roche et al. 1979).”
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- Authors
- Roche, A. F., Lipman, R. S., Overall, J. E., & Hung, W.
- Affiliations
- Children's National (US)
- Venue
- PEDIATRICS
- Publisher
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
- Published
- 1979-06-01
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 847-850
- ISSN
- 0031-4005 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-4275
- OpenAlex
- W2113280252
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 7.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- PEDIATRICS (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pharmaceutical studies and practices
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- stimulant medication, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, growth inhibition, weight gain, height, drug holidays, drug dosing, prepubertal children, long-term treatment
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Body Height, Body Weight, Child Behavior Disorders, Dextroamphetamine, Growth, Growth Disorders, Humans, Hyperkinesis, Imipramine, Methylphenidate, Pemoline
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