Depression in Teenagers Increases Risk of Obesity
According to New Cincinnati Children's Study
CINCINNATI -- Depressed teenagers are at increased risk for becoming obese during adolescence, a fact that may have a biological basis, according to a new study conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The study, published in the current issue of Pediatrics, also found that teenage obesity does not predict future depression.
"Most people think that obesity leads to depression, not vice versa. But there is emerging evidence that mood disorders can, in fact, predispose individuals to become obese because both diseases share biological regulatory pathways in the central nervous system," says Elizabeth Goodman, MD, the study's main author.
"This study provides evidence that depressed mood increases the risk of developing obesity in adolescence and of continuing to remain obese during adolescence," she adds.
Dr. Goodman used data from more than 9,300 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a national study of adolescents in grades seven through 12. Among adolescents not obese at the beginning of the study, the odds of becoming obese during the following year were doubled if they were depressed.
This finding held true even after controlling for such factors as baseline weight, race, gender, self-esteem, physical activity, number of parents in the home and socioeconomic status. In addition, among those obese at baseline, depressed mood appeared to cause worsening obesity during the one year period studied.
Obesity is a major public health problem in the United States. More than 300,000 deaths are linked to obesity each year. In addition, obesity causes many medical conditions and complications, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, osteoarthritis and stroke. Both depression and obesity are increasing throughout the world, and the reasons behind these trends remain unknown. Obesity is increasing in all age groups and among all racial and ethnic groups, but young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 are experiencing the highest rate of increase.
"Both obesity and depression often have roots in adolescence, making adolescence a critical period for the development of obesity," says Dr. Goodman, whose study is one of the few to examine the link between depression and obesity over a period of time. "Understanding that depression can lead to obesity may enlighten obesity prevention strategies and lead researchers to focus more on the shared biological and social determinants of these two chronic diseases. Hopefully, this will lead to new prevention and treatment strategies for both of these chronic conditions."
Dr. Goodman, who is now with the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University, conducted the study with Bob Whitaker, MD, a physician at Cincinnati Children's who is currently a visiting senior research scholar at Princeton University.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is a 373-bed institution dedicated to the pursuit of perfect health care. It is the only pediatric organization in the United States to receive the prestigious Pursuing Perfection grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation ranks third nationally among all pediatric centers in research grants from the National Institutes of Health. The Cincinnati Children's vision is to be the leader in improving child health, through patient care, research and education.
Contact Information
Jim Feuer, jim.feuer@chmcc.org,
513-636-4656
