LOW BODY-WEIGHT IN MALE-CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH SCHIZOID PERSONALITY-DISORDER OR ASPERGERS-DISORDER

This study explored the hypothesis that body weight is reduced in male children and adolescents with schizoid personality disorder or Asperg er's disorder. The body weights of 33 consecutively admitted male subj ects with one of these disorders were retrospectively assessed with pe rcentiles for the body mass index (BMI). The mean percentile (+/-SD) f or the BMI was 31.6+/-27.6 and differed significantly from the expecte d value of 50 (P<0.001). Ten subjects had a BMI of less than or equal to 10th age percentile. Post hoc comparisons revealed that BMI percent iles were (a) reduced to a similar extent in patients with schizoid pe rsonality disorder and Asperger's disorder and (b) reduced to a greate r extent in patients with abnormal eating behaviour. During childhood and adolescence both diagnoses are associated with an increased risk o f being underweight. Population-based BMI percentiles are useful for d etecting associations between specific psychopathological syndromes an d body weight.