Obesity and Depression in Children and Adolescents: the Problem of Comorbidity and Prevention

The relevance: currently, scientists talk about the epidemic of obesity among children and adolescents, which is associated with significant risks and deterioration of mental and physical health of the young generation. Objective: to study association between depression and obesity in children and adolescents. The paper presents a literature review of the widely discussed problem of the relationship between depression and obesity, as well as the results of our own empirical study obtained on a sample of patients from the Center for Treatment and Prevention of Metabolic Diseases and Obesity, FGBU «National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology» of the Ministry of Health of Russia. Sample. The study involved respondents aged 7 to 17 years (M=12,5, SD=2,5), a total of 153 people with SDS BMI from 1,2 to 4,2 (M=2,8, SD=0,5), of which 52% were female and 48% were male. The study included a diagnostic interview with the child and parents, each child was asked to fill out the Children's Depression Inventory (Maria Kovacs 1992). The results suggest a high level of comorbidity of obesity and depressive symptoms among children and adolescents ¾ 52% of girls and 27% of boys who participated in the study have symptoms of depression of varying degrees of severity. Also, more severe forms of obesity were recorded in boys compared to girls at the initial application for specialized care, which indirectly indicates a greater concern for health and appearance on the part of girls and their families. The overwhelming majority of parents of children note unhealthy eating habits, low physical activity and sleep disorders in their children. It is concluded that it is necessary to raise awareness of children, parents, teachers and child specialists of different profiles about the relationship between depressive symptoms and obesity, as well as the importance of appropriate diagnosis and the development of comprehensive treatment and prevention programs for both obesity and depression.

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