Physical Fitness and Dynamic Balance in Medication Naive Turkish Children with ADHD

This study investigated physical fitness levels and dynamic balance in medication-naive children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Participants were 24 medication-naive Turkish children with ADHD (4 girls, 20 boys) and 19 typically developing (TD) Turkish children (4 girls, 15 boys). We measured physical fitness levels with the Eurofit Test Battery, body composition with the Inbody 720 Body Composition Analyzer, cognitive attention with the Stroop Test, and dynamic balance with the Y-Balance Test. We found significantly poorer dynamic balance and both upper extremity and running fitness problems among the medication-naive Turkish children with ADHD compared to the TD group (p = 0.002;p = 0.032;p = 0.002). It may be important to adress dynamic balance and physical fitness when treating children with ADHD.