Chronic Obesity Linked to Behavior Problems
in Kids
Monday
April 7, 2003
By Charnicia E. Huggins NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children
who are chronically obese may be more likely to develop certain mental health
problems than their peers, according to a new report released Monday.
The eight-year study of nearly 1,000 white youth found that girls and boys who
were obese at each annual follow-up were more likely than their non-obese peers
to have symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder, meaning they tended to defy
rules. Chronically obese boys, but not girls, were also much more likely to have
symptoms of a depressive disorder. The same was not true, however, of
boys and girls whose weight fluctuated throughout the study period, those who
were obese during late childhood or those who became obese during adolescence,
the report indicates. "The key implication of the
findings is that obesity, which is linked to increased risk for so many health
problems, is also linked to increased risk of psychiatric disorder in children
and adolescents," study author Dr. Sarah A. Mustillo of Duke University
Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, told Reuters Health. Studies have shown obesity to be
associated with many health problems, including lung, gastrointestinal and
circulatory problems during childhood and increased risk of cardiovascular
disease, diabetes and colon cancer in adulthood. Overweight and obese adults are
also known to be more likely to develop psychological disorders than
normal-weight adults, but more research is needed to determine if the same is
true for children. To investigate, Mustillo and her
colleagues studied 991 North Carolina youth, aged 9 to 16, who were involved in
a long-term mental health study. Although weight fluctuated during the
pre-teen and teenage years, the prevalence of obesity generally increased with
age, the researchers note. By age 16, about one in five teens were obese. Overall, 73 percent of the youth were
never or rarely obese, five percent were obese only during late childhood and
7.5 percent became obese during adolescence. Fifteen percent were chronically
obese -- a rate three times higher than the authors predicted using the most
recent criteria from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news
- web
sites), they note in the journal Pediatrics. Chronically obese children were more
than twice as likely to have symptoms of oppositional disorder than non-obese
boys and girls, study findings indicate. And chronically obese boys, but not
girls, were nearly four times as likely to have symptoms of depression. All of the study participants were
raised in families with similar parenting styles and family structure. There
were no differences in their family's history of mental illness and they had
similar exposure to drug abuse, crime and traumatic events, the report
indicates. Why obesity was associated with an
increased risk of psychiatric disorder is unknown. Since the psychiatric
symptoms were most common in the chronically obese group, it may be that the
children's obesity increased their risk of depression or behavior problems, the
researchers speculate. "Obesity may lead to poor
treatment and discrimination from peers, which could then in turn increase the
risk of behavior problems," Mustillo said. "Or, obesity could lead to
isolation from peers or withdrawal from activities, which could increase the
risk for depression." On the other hand, it could be the
children's psychiatric disorder that increases their risk of obesity, the
researchers add. Parents can help reduce their child's
risk by first reducing their child's risk of becoming obese, according to
Mustillo. "We live in a country with super-sized meals and sedentary
lifestyles," she said. "Parents can encourage, model and support
nutritious eating and higher levels of physical activity." And for parents whose children are
already obese, they should "emphasize the health aspects as opposed to the
appearance aspects of losing weight, to avoid emphasizing physical
appearance," Mustillo said. If any emotional or behavioral problems are
suspected, she added, parents should consult a health care professional. SOURCE: Pediatrics 2003;111:851-859. |