Does Obesity Increase the Risk of Anxiety/Depression in Kids & Teens?
Interestingly, it partially does!
A nationwide study conducted in Sweden agrees. Anxiety and depression have been found to be more widespread in children and adolescents with obesity. The purpose of the following study that was conducted by the Swedish Childhood Obesity Treatment Register (BORIS) was to determine if the association of obesity was causing anxiety and/or depression in children or adolescents or caused by other known risk factors. Reportedly, children and adolescents with obesity are more likely to suffer from anxiety or depression when compared to children and adolescents of average weight. Past questionnaires failed to fully assess if the association of obesity to anxiety and depression was caused by outside risk factors or by its own relationship, part of which influenced the necessity of the BORIS study in Sweden.
The Swedish Childhood Obesity Treatment Register included individuals from ages 6 to 17 years old enrolled from 2005 to 2015. The register was based on anthropometric (body) measurements, biochemical analyses, physical activity, psychosocial situation, family history of disease, and data of the individual’s current or past medical diagnoses. The treatment of obesity was based on adapting a healthier behavioral lifestyle.
The samples of individuals were taken from the registered individuals from the obesity treatment register and from the general population. Individuals from the general population were matched to a BORIS registered individual according to sex, age, district of residence, and the year when the obesity treatment started. The matches were five individuals of the general population to one individual with obesity. Information pertaining to environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status (SES), was collected by the Longitudinal Integration database for Health Insurance and Labor Market studies in order to determine if the individual’s environment contributed as a factor for obesity.
The data regarding obesity treatment was gathered by the Swedish Childhood Obesity Treatment Register, determining patients’ obesity by degree of body mass index standard deviation score (BMI SDS). The research rated the change in BMI SDS by the measure of treatment response which was formed into four groups:
| Category | BMI SDS Unit |
| Good Response | Decrease of less than or equal to 0.25 units |
| No Response | Decrease of less than 0.25 units to increase of 0.25 units |
| Poor Response | Increase of more than 0.25 units |
| Dropouts | 6 months or less than first and last measurement of weight and height or no clinical follow ups from initial treatment visit |
The study included a total of 12, 507 individuals with obesity, 46.9% being girls. 60, 063 individuals totaled in the comparison group, 47.1% which was made up of girls. It found that 9.7% of the children and adolescents with obesity suffered from anxiety and depression compared to the 5.0% of the general population comparison group. Similarly, a study in the United States used data collected by the National Survey of Children’s Health determined that obesity is caused by a variety of health and environmental factors. Some of which include obstructive sleep apnea, type II diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and as well as psychosocial factors such as low self esteem, depression, and peer discrimination.
In the Sweden study, it found that 56% of children with obesity and anxiety/depression also had at least one parent diagnosed with anxiety/depression. Overall, the study concluded that the link between obesity and anxiety/depression may be due to shared environmental, socioeconomic status, psychological and possible genetic factors, thus supporting the hypothesis that obesity is associated with risk of anxiety and depression symptoms in children and adolescents.
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