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Childhood
Obesity and Depression
Children that have
the condition obesity are more likely suffer from
depression. In fact a recent study found that children and young adults
that are overweight or suffering from obesity have a higher rate of
depression than people the same age who are not obese or overweight.
The study that established these results was carried out over a period
of 8 years. The aim was to discover the psychological effects of
obesity. 1000 children participated in this study,and as a result
researchers found that childhood obesity has psychological
repercussions and it can be linked to a variety of other psychological
disorders.
Prior to recent studies it was generally believed that girls were more
likely to suffer depression as a result of obesity rather than boys,
however it actually turns out that boys are more likely to suffer from
obesity related depression.
The study also found that obese boys and girls tend to suffer from a
pyschological problem known as "oppositional defiant disorder."
Obese children with this disorder show hostility and anger towards
people with authority i.e adults, teachers etc.
Although the study was revealing, it still left some questions
unanswered, one of them was in what order do these two conditions
occur. Does
obesity come first followed by depression and other psychological
disorders or is it vice versa. Hopefully future studies will give us
more insight into this question.
A completely separate study which was again carried out over 8 years
and once again involved 1000 children, revealed similar results. This
time the study involved candidates between the ages of nine and sixteen
years of age. Over the eight year period researches monitored the
weight, height, their vulnerability to psychological problems and the
psychiatric status of each child. Around 730 of the candidates were in
the non obese category, 150 of them were chronically obese, 50 were
obese only as children whilst the other 70% had only been obese as
young adults.
The results of the study found that childhood obesity was a bigger
problem than experts originally thought, in fact previous figures
compiled by the United States Center for Disease control and Prevention
in the year 2000 were wrong. The real figure was actually four times
that of the one that was initially stated.
The study also found that chronically obese children are more likely to
have psychiatric conditions linked to depression and oppositional
defiant disorder than there non obese counterparts.
Adults who are obese can use weight loss as a method to fight obesity,
however this is not advisable for young children as their bodies are
still in the process of developing. In fact continuously encouraging a
child to diet could actually trigger off depression in them. Dieting is
also not advisable as children may miss out on important nutrients that
they need for growth. If your child is obese it is recommended that you
take them to a doctor.
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