Nutrition/Obesity
Depressive symptoms and obesity risk in Korean adolescents: A longitudinal analysis Dabin Jeong* Dabin Jeong Hannah Oh
Background: Studies suggest that there is a bidirectional association between obesity and depression. However, few studies investigated whether depression influences the risk of adolescent obesity using a longitudinal study design.
Objective: This study investigated the association between depressive symptoms and obesity risk among Korean adolescents using longitudinal data.
Methods: We conducted a longitudinal analysis using prospective cohort data from the Korean Child and Youth Panel Study (KCYPS; n=2,590 7th grade students) 2018-2022 (5-y follow-up). Depressive symptoms (score range 10-40) were assessed using the Korean version of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) and categorized into quartiles. Obesity was defined as BMI-for-age and -sex ≥ 95th percentile based on the 2017 Korean National Growth Charts. We performed generalized estimating equation models to account for correlation between responses within the subjects. We estimated odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between depressive symptom score and obesity risk, adjusting for potential confounders.
Results: Higher depressive symptom score was associated with higher obesity risk (highest vs. lowest quartiles: OR [95% CI]: 1.83[1.21-2.77]; p-trend=0.013) after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and parental obesity. The positive association persisted after additional adjustment for lifestyle factors (sleep duration, physical activity) and subjective health (OR [95% CI]: 2.00[1.29-3.09]; p-trend=0.005). When stratified by sex, similar positive associations were observed in both boys (OR [95% CI]: 1.60[0.94-2.75]) and girls (3.24(1.33-7.90); p-interaction=0.22).
Conclusions: Poor mental health may be one of the important predictors of adolescent obesity in Korea.