Weighted vests for children and similar therapeutic weighted clothing are sometimes used to try to treat symptoms of certain developmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism in children.
[1][2] The vests are weighted down with sand or other heavy materials.
[3] A review of the use of weighted clothing indicates that they are not useful with respect to hyperactivity, clumsiness, or repetitive behavior.
[3] By 2017, the use of weighted vests had become common in public schools in Hamburg, Germany.
Media reports about this practice triggered controversy and criticism because of the lack of long-term studies of the effect of wearing such vests.