People with neurodiversity are more likely to also have obesity

Flint et al write regarding the potential link between neurodiversity and having obesity; a correlation I was not previously aware of.

In 2024, analysis of Health Survey for England data between 2016 and 2019 identified that participants with neurodiversity were almost 64% more likely to have obesity than the general population, and that this likelihood increased to 70% for participants with a learning disability.

A meta-analysis of 95 studies examined weight status in autistic people and people with ADHD. The pooled estimates of the prevalence of obesity and overweight were 21·8% and 19·8% in autistic people, and 14·7% and 20·9% in people with ADHD.

Why? It’s early days on this subject I’m sure - but they put forward a few claims:

Several factors contribute to the high prevalence of obesity and atypical weight gain in people with neurodiversity, such as genetic variants, eating behaviour (including preference for caloric-dense foods), sensory sensitivities affecting food tastes and textures, health-care experiences, stigma, and weight-promoting medications. People with neurodiversity are also at increased risk of obesity-related complications, such as sleep apnoea, type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal disturbances, orthopaedic problems, and psychological disorders (eg, depression, anxiety, social isolation, and stigma).

As always: more research is needed! Right now very little explicitly examines this population.