Weighted vests for children and similar therapeutic weighted clothing are sometimes used to try to treat symptoms of certain

developmental disorder Developmental disorders comprise a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Di ...

s such as

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

in children. There is however no evidence that they are useful for this purpose. The

vest A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. ...

s are weighted down with sand or other heavy materials. Terms used for such items of clothing include sand vests, compression vests or squeeze jackets.

Effectiveness

A review of the use of weighted clothing indicates that they are not useful with respect to hyperactivity, clumsiness, or repetitive behavior. A 2015 review of treatments for

found only a single study of five people that showed any benefit and six trials that showed no benefit resulting in the overall conclusion of no benefit.

Application

The use of weighted vests for children originated in the United States as a form of therapy for children with autism. By 2017, the use of weighted vests had become common in public schools in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. Teachers there reported that students wore the vests voluntarily for up to 30 minutes at a time, and that the vests were popular with the children. Media reports about this practice triggered controversy and criticism because of the lack of long-term studies of the effect of wearing such vests.

References

{{reflist Alternative therapies for developmental and learning disabilities Vests

Effectiveness

Application

See also

References