How ADHD And Being Hispanic Affect Kids’ Physical Activity Levels

The are research indicates that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with reduced physical activity (PA) among children. However, there is a paucity of research examining how children of Hispanic and non-Hispanic ethnicity with ADHD affect their PA. PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between Hispanic ethnicity and ADHD diagnosis intersectionality on weekly PA levels using national representative data. METHODS: A secondary data analysis was conducted using the US National Survey of Children's Health data from 2016-2023. The children's parents/guardians were asked to report their Hispanic ethnicity (yes or no), whether or not the child had been diagnosed with ADHD, and how often the child engaged in PA per week (0 days, 1-3 days, 4-6 days, and 7 days). An ordinal logistic regression was conducted to compare the weekly PA levels of Hispanic and non-Hispanic children with and without ADHD. An interaction term between Hispanic ethnicity and ADHD diagnosis was included in the regression. RESULTS: The analysis included data from 207,970 children. Among the participants, 87.9% (95% CI [0.88, 0.88]) were non-Hispanic children without ADHD, and 91.54% (95% CI [0.91, 0.92]) were Hispanic children without ADHD. The prevalence of ADHD among Hispanic children was 12.1% (95% CI [0.11, 0.12]), while the prevalence among non-Hispanic children was 8.45% (95% CI [0.08, 0.09]). The ordinal logistic regression indicated that children with ADHD (OR = 0.76, 95% CI [0.72, 0.80]) and of Hispanic ethnicity (OR = 0.70, 95% CI [0.66, 0.74]) were less likely to engage in higher weekly levels of physical activity compared to their counterparts without ADHD and non-Hispanic ethnic backgrounds. Despite the observed association, the interaction term between Hispanic ethnicity and ADHD diagnosis was not statistically significant with respect to weekly PA levels (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: Hispanic children and children with ADHD engaged in less weekly PA. Each groups faced uniquely different barriers in engaging in PA. There is a need to better promote PA among these groups.