Depression in kids is often linked with obesity. But it seems to be
a case of chicken and egg. While the two often occur together, it is
unclear which is cause and which effect.
Obesity rates are soaring. One study, published in Pediatrics,
found that the longer a child is substantially overweight, the more they
are at risk for depression and other mental health disorders.
The study followed nearly 1,000 white children in North Carolina,
ages 9 to 16, over eight years. Young boys, but not girls, proved
especially prone to the dual problem of obesity with depression.
"The link could have to do with social factors or it could be
neuroendocrine related," says Sarah Mustillo, Ph.D., researcher in
psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke Medical Center. "It could be
that if you're only obese for six months, there's not as much of an
effect as if you were obese for five years."
At the center of the biological focus of obesity-depression link is
the hormonal pathway known as the HPA axis. It is the route of
communication between the hypothalamus, the peanut-sized part of the
brain that governs parts of the nervous system, and the pituitary and
adrenal glands, which secrete a variety of hormones.
These three points of the body work together to maintain chemical
equilibrium when the body is under stress. The HPA axis is responsible
for releasing cortisol, the so-called "stress hormone" that also plays a
critical role in energy metabolism as well as many other functions.
Cortisol released in response to stress prompts the human body to deposit
fat around the abdomen, a pattern of fat accumulation that is especially
hazardous to health. Chronic stress also begets depression.
"Obesity, depression and behavioral disorders have all been linked
to abnormal functioning of the HPA axis," says Mustillo. While social
factors such as teasing and isolation may contribute to depressed mood in
kids who are obese, Mustillo believes the problem is much more
complex.
"It's probably a combination of the social and biological factors,"
she says, noting that "there's an interaction between what's outside your
body and what's inside." Obesity carries a large social stigma and may
bring on depression if it negatively affects self-esteem, body image or
social mobility. It may even disrupt the normal hormonal pathways. Then
again, depression may also bring on obesity, if a child lacks the energy
to exercise or is immobilized by stress.
About 15% of the children Mustillo studied were chronically obese,
while another 12% were obese at some point in childhood or adolescence.
She believes the obesity epidemic among children is actually three to
four times worse than has been characterized by the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control.
Depression, of course, is not the only problem for these kids.
Another study, published in Journal of the American Medical Association,
found obese kids were 5.5 times more likely to have an impaired quality
of life than healthy kids, putting their life experience on par with that
of kids undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer.
"Obese children reported scores [on a quality of life survey] that
were as bad as cancer patients in each and every domain of life," says
Jeffrey Schwimmer, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the
University of California San Diego. "We were surprised it was that
bad."
Obese children also missed an average of four days of school a
month, compared to less than a day for children at an average weight.
"The potential ramifications for that are huge," says Schwimmer, who
believes the low quality of life among overweight kids hinges on their
medical problems--physically unable to take part in many activities--as
well as on how other children treat them.
The best thing parents can do is to treat obesity as a health
issue, not a problem of appearance, and to accurately record their
child's height and weight. He urges parents, physicians and psychologists
to press insurance companies to cover behavioral therapy for
obesity.
It's also important to recognize that obesity isn't necessarily
caused by overeating, says Elizabeth Goodman, M.D., professor of child
and adolescent health at Brandeis University. She believes that the
obesity-depression link will prove to be very complex .
"There are different types of depression and there are different
types of obesity," she says. "It's easy to say that it's all behavioral.
That makes it sound like there's a choice, but I'm not sure that it
is."
Tags:
abdomen,
accumulation,
adrenal glands,
behavioral sciences,
chemical equilibrium,
chronic stress,
critical role,
depression,
dual problem,
energy metabolism,
food,
hpa axis,
human body,
mental health disorders,
mood,
Obesity,
obesity rates,
overeating,
parts of the nervous system,
social factors,
stress hormone,
young boys
