Stimulant treatment over 5 years: effects on growth.

Objective: Long-term effects of psychostimulants on growth in height and in weight are investigated in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Method: Participants were 79 children, 6 to 12 years of age, with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, who were followed annually for up to 5 years, between the years 1993 and 1994 and 1998 and 1999. Annual height and weight measurements were standardized by age and gender using the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Growth Charts for the United States and reported as z scores.