Chicken or Egg? Obesity or Depression?
Depression has clearly been linked with obese children, yet which precedes the other is like the case of the chicken and the egg. It is unclear which is the cause and which is the effect. Do children become depressed due to being overweight, or does the tendency go in the other direction?
Dr. Sarah Mustillo of Duke University Medical Center has studied the interaction between the human body’s internal and external components. Her observations conclude that obesity frequently leads to a social stigma that may bring about the onset of depression, chipping away at the child’s self-esteem and ability to interact normally with others in the making and maintenance of friendships. On the other hand, she notes other children who experience clinical depression and consequently eat greater quantities of food for emotional “self-medication,” lose enthusiasm for calorie-burning physical activities, and become obese.
The incidence of childhood obesity is soaring. According to other pediatric medical studies, the longer a child lives in an overweight condition, the greater the risk of experiencing depression and additional physical and mental health abnormalities. Anyone who has struggled with weight knows intuitively that being overweight for a substantial portion of one’s initial pre-adult years takes a far greater emotional toll than living in an overweight condition for a shorter period of time.
In another separate study where obese children rated their quality of life, their feedback resulted in very low scores. Dr. Jeffrey Schwimmer of the University of California San Diego found this conclusion disturbing, especially as he noticed with some alarm that the rating is even lower than for other children who live as cancer patients.
When assessing distinctions between genders, another study conducted in North Carolina with 1000 Caucasian children revealed that boys are more prone to the obesity-depression connection than young girls.
Dr. Mustillo, referenced earlier, has also observed that the link between obesity and depression can be partly neuroendocrine-related rather than strictly the result of a social malady. She explained that although teasing and isolation can lead to already-obese children becoming depressed, there are still other complex mechanisms in the human body affecting obesity, depression, and behavioral problems.
Abnormal functioning that is activated in certain parts of the brain during times of stress is thought to be one root cause that triggers depression and obesity. The HPA axis (Hypothalamus, Pituitary, and Adrenal) secretes a stress hormone, called cortisol. This hormone is crucial in the metabolism of energy, among its other functions. The downside of its activities is the deposition of body fat in the abdomen. When fat build-up remains without being burned, the heart and other organs are pressed for greater service than normally required. Obesity, depression, and additional health concerns then become a spiraling, cyclical problem.
So back to the original question of which precedes the other: obesity or depression? There appears to be no definite, consistent cause of one to the other, but there is surely a correlation! Neuroendocrine examinations have indicated that body processes play an important role in influencing the accumulation of fat over time, so there is even more at work here than merely playground teasing and low self-esteem.
